Legend of Ometin
by Piggy Ho Ho
Summary: Sakura and Syaoran were tranported to another world. And so their journey begins... *Finished*
1. It all started with just one little ques...

Here's chapter one 

Here's chapter one! Hope you enjoy it! 

LEGEND OF OMETIN~Prologue~ 

"I'll fight till the end for the sake of your safety..." 

~~~~~ 

Touya Kinomoto was inside the kitchen of the Kinomoto house, cooking hamburgers for dinner. He was wearing an unusually girlish apron decorated with a little bunny holding a flower with his high school uniform underneath. He flipped the burgers, and turned off the stove. As he walked over to the dinner table to put the hamburgers onto the plates, he heard the phone ring. Putting down his cooking tools, and wiping his hands as he walked, he picked up the phone in the hallway. "Hello, Kinomoto residents." He said with a low voice. 

For a moment, there was nothing but silence on the other end. He repeated. "Hello?" 

With slight hesitation, the person on the other end finally spoke. "Um...can I speak to Sakura Kinomoto?" 

I recognize that voice. The thought popped out in Touya's head along with a few veins. "You little brat, what are you calling my sister for?" 

With no doubts, it was Syaoran who was on the other end. He sounded like he was rushing, and wanted to get off the line right at this moment. Putting up with Touya Kinomoto was the last thing he wanted to do. "Look, I don't have time to argue. Just let me talk to her." 

"Not until you say 'oh pretty please you high and mighty Touya'." Touya said with a flat face. 

Syaoran said the words, but not exactly what he commended. " 'Oh pity, please you dead and filthy Touya.' " 

For a minute, they were just playing the tension game of silence. Finally, Touya gave in. "I'll settle for a 'please' and 'thank you'." 

Touya sighed hard. He didn't enjoy doing this. "Yo, monster! There's a phone call for you." 

Sakura skipped downstairs. "Thanks, Big-Bro." She took the phone from him. "Hello?" 

"Hi, Sakura." 

"Hey! Syaoran! Is that you?" She couldn't believe it; the last time he called her was...never. "What's up?" 

"Oh...nothing really...just checking." 

"Hmm? Checking what?" 

"Oh...nothing." 

Sakura giggled. "Are you sure? You didn't sound like there's nothing." 

"Um...well, if you really want to know..." 

"Hm...?" Sakura smiled, she curled the phone line with her finger. 

"No...it's really nothing..." 

"Oh, come on, Syaoran! Do you think I'll really believe that you called for nothing? You never call me, it's not like you to just call and chat." 

"Maybe you're right..." 

"So...?" 

"Um...I..." 

"...?" 

"Never mind...I'll tell you the next day in school...see you tomorrow." 

Sakura was kind of disappointed. "Okay then...but...tomorrow is Sunday." 

"Huh? Oh, um...then...see you Monday." 

Sakura giggled again. "Okay...bye." 

"Bye." 

Sakura still had the phone to her ears, waiting for him to hang up before she would. For some reason this phone call felt precious to her, and she wanted to enjoy every last second of it. The other reason was that deep inside she was hoping that Syaoran would not hang up, and say...something, anything. Anything will do... 

Maybe it was her wish; whatever it was Syaoran didn't hang up. "Hello?" He said quietly. 

That caught Sakura unguarded. "Hoe? Oh, hi!" She almost jumped. 

"Are you...still there?" 

Sakura smiled, and blushed a little. "Uh-huh." She nodded, even though she knew that he couldn't see her nod. 

Syaoran made a laughing noise; it was like music to her ears, she blushed again. "I guess...I'll tell you now then." He said. 

"Okay." She said. "What are you going to tell me?" 

There was a moment of silence. Then Syaoran finally said it. "...Will you...I mean...like...can you go on a date with me?" 

Sakura blushed harder. "A...date?" 

"Um..." She couldn't see it, but Syaoran was blushing hard. "You don't have to, you know, I'm just asking! I mean, if you don't want to, that's fine. If you do what to, then that's perfecto! I mean that's wonderful! Not that...I'm pressuring you to date with me, but..." By now he was talking to himself. 

Sakura took a deep breath, and interrupted his self-talk. "I'll do it!" 

Syaoran couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You mean...you'll do it? You...you'll go?" 

Sakura blushed a little, and nodded again. "Uh-huh." 

Syaoran grinned. "Great! I mean...thanks! I-I mean..." 

"It's okay..." Sakura giggled again, "I get what you mean..." 

Syaoran was suddenly calmed. He showed a passionate smile. With a slight blush, he answered. "Okay, then." 

"When and where shall we meet?" 

"Oh, um, how about the park? Um, is ten good for you? Tomorrow, I mean..." 

"Ten tomorrow is fine." 

"Great...perfect..." 

"Yeah...and this time you can truly say 'see you tomorrow'." 

"Um...yeah, see you tomorrow." 

"Okay, see you." Sakura finished. This time, she didn't wait, and hung up. She sighed hard. Her heart was still beating fast. I still can't believe Syaoran asked me out... Her mind was filled with excitement. She couldn't wait till tomorrow. 

On the other end, Syaoran hung up at the same time. He looked at the phone, smiled confidently, and held the phone high up in the air. "Yes!" he cheered. 

To be continued... 

Wow! My first chapter! I'm so proud of myself!!! ^x^; 

This took longer than I thought (especially with MY typing skill) But I'll try to put up the next chapter up as soon as possible, ok? ^x^ 

For Sakura+Syaoran fans, hehe, more things are gonna happen between them! ^0^ Ohohohohoho..... 

I didn't bother to put up things like "kun" at the end of names, one because I'm not Japanese (hey, I'm trying to learn!!) , two, I don't know how to use them. 

Then, see you at the next chapter!!! 

Piggy Ho Ho '(oo)' 

Disclaimer: I do not own anything! NOTHING! 

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	2. New World!

Alright, first chapter 

" I'll fight till the end for the sake of your safety...." 

Card Captor Sakura: The Legend of Ometin 

Chapter 1 

~~~~~ 

"Hoe...?" 

Sakura found herself safe and comfortable on her own bed. 

Alright, first chapter! 

~~~~~ 

" I'll fight till the end for the sake of your safety...." 

Card Captor Sakura: The Legend of Ometin 

Chapter 1 

~~~~~ 

"Hoe...?" 

Sakura found herself safe and comfortable on her own bed. 

"It was just a dream...."She turned and went back to sleep. Then she remembered, "Oh no! The date!" Careful not to wake-up Kero, she ran to the bathroom to dress-up. 

What on earth was that dream all about anyway...?  Fight till the end for my safety? Heck with that?She thought as she rushes downstairs for breakfast. 

"Morning, Dad!" 

"Sakura? You don't have to go to school, why are you up so early?" 

"Oh, I'm suppose to...... meet a friend at Central park by ten." 

"A friend? Is it a date?" (smile, smile) 

"What?" 

"I'm joking!" 

"Oh, yeah....nice one, haha....." *sweatdrop* 

"Did you say ten- it's nine-thirty now." 

"Oh!! I have to go!! Bye Dad!" 

"Bye." 

She grabbed her backpack and yelled, "Be back in a flash!" 

~~~~~ 

Oh man, why did I asked her out, this is insane! What would I say, hi? You look beautiful as always? Oh no, oh no, OH NO!!!! 

A boy was sitting on a bench in Central park, he looked nervous, too nervous, people will think that he had committed a crime or something. 

Ok, so I'm over reacting a little, calm down, calm down... 

"Syaoran!" 

"S-Sakura!" (failed to calm down) 

"I'm sorry that I'm late, how long have you been here?" 

"Not too long..." (in other words, almost half an hour...) 

"So, shall we get going?" 

"Su-sure." 

Sakura went beside Syaoran and took his hand  

"Huh?" Syaoran asked with a question mark on his face. 

"Well, it's supposed to be a date, right?" 

"Oh, yeah...." 

"Great, where are we headed?" 

"Ahhhhh....." 

"...Why don't we just walk around for a while?" 

"O-okay..." 

And so they did. (Pretty boring for a date, huh?) A minute later, Sakura's ponytail came loose automatically.  

"That's weird. It just came off like that. Syaoran, I have to go fix it in the bathroom, OK?" 

"Oh, sure." 

She went in to the bathroom, and fixed it. Just then, she saw something shiny on the floor, it was a crystal that shone like a star. She went back out, and was trying to find a lost and found center or something, but all she found was Syaoran, standing there, waiting for her. 

"Syaoran, I found this...." 

She couldn't finish her sentence-the crystal glew with an eye-blinding light. The light swirled around Sakura, and began to suck her in. 

She screamed. Syaoran realized she was in some kind of danger, and ran towards her.  

"SAKURA!!!!"  He grabbed her hand, Syaoran was then pulled into the light too...... 

They disappeared. No one saw what happened, they're just....gone.... 

~~~~~ 

"Guess there's no prey today." 

A girl dressed in a ancient Chinese costume was hunting on a grassy mountain. Her name was Shi Shi, she had dark hair, and she was around ten to twelve years old. 

"I'll have to call it a day." 

A loud noise attracted her attention. 

She walked slowly towards the direction of the noise and found two kids around her age that were strangely dressed, lying on the grass.... 

"Huh…?" 

~~~~ 

"Hoe...?" Sakura woke up with a big headache. 

"Ah, you're awake." 

"Who...are you?" 

"I'm Shi Shi, who are you?" 

"I-i'm Sakura....wha-where's Syaoran!?" 

"'Little wolf'? You mean the boy?" 

"Yes!" 

"He's fine, as a matter of fact, he's sleeping right beside you." 

Sakura slowly turned around and found that Shi Shi was telling the truth. 

"Oh my!" All of the sudden, her headache's gone, and she jumped out of the bed with a world record speed. 

"What's wrong? You don't like him..." 

"NO!!! IT'S NOT THAT!!" She answered, breaking another world record. 

"......." (you got the idea, sweat dropping) 

"Well, it's just that, he's a boy, and I'm a girl....." 

"It's okay, I understand." 

"Ah...where are we?" Syaoran groaned as he began to wake up. 

"Why, you're in my house." Shi Shi answered with a bright smile. 

"I can tell, but where are we in general?" 

"Mount St. Kilo." 

"Huh?" 

"You never heard of Mt. St. Kilo before????" 

"No, what country is this?" 

"What do you mean? This is Ometin." 

"O-what?" 

"Ometin!" 

"Wha....how did we get here?" 

"You don't belong to Ometin...?" 

"No, we belong to Earth." 

"Ear......" She jumped as she heard the word "Earth".  

"Then you must be....the legendary....." She hugged Sakura and Syaoran so tight, that they couldn't breathe.  

"You've finally came to save us, legendary heroes!!!!" 

"H...(choking) hoe..?" 

"I'm sorry, let me explain. There's this legend that was passed down in Ometin from generations to generations, it goes something like this...'When the devils rise from hell, the heroes from a magical place called Earth is going to save us all....' 

"And the time has come since you guys dropped by for you to save Ometin. The missioners from hell, or devils, as it says in the legend, had managed to escape over a month ago, they're here to seek revenge because our ancestors locked them up. They've sneaked into the city looking like a human to destroy our societies from the inside, and they-" 

"HOLD IT! Give us a chance to talk." Syaoran interrupted. "Why should we help you?" 

"Syaoran..."Sakura tried to calm him, but he ignored. 

"We have a choice you know, why would we risk our lives, killing devils for your people, I mean, we don't belong here!" 

"But Syaoran...." 

"We're going home, Sakura." Syaoran grabbed her hand. 

"How do you plan to get there?" Shi Shi asked. 

"The same way we came, using that stupid stone." 

"You mean the Ometin Crystal? Take a look." 

Sakura took the crystal out of her pocket. "It's ....black." 

"The power's out, that's why, it's only good for one trip." 

Syaoran was really pissed off now. "Alright, how do we charge it up?" 

"It's not a battery, you restore power by collecting souls of the devils. When it's full you can go." 

"Is it going to be all fixed up?" 

"You bet it is." 

"Syaoran....." Sakura spoke softly. "I...wanted to help..." 

Syaoran turned around and saw the sad puppy face. He sighed. "Do we have a choice?" 

Her face lit up, and smiled happily. "Thanks." 

"Okay!" Shi Shi interrupted "You need an Ometin look so that the missioners don't recognize you as the legendary heroes, because if they do, you'll be in danger. As the matter of fact, don't let anyone know about it at all, it's safer that way. So come this way, please." 

~~~~~ 

Lucky that I brought my sword... Syaoran thought as he changed in to the Ometin clothes. "So! How do I look?" Syaoran's heartbeat raced as he saw Sakura in those clothes. 

"....It looks good..." 

Then Shi Shi popped out of no where. "Really, but according to your face you love it." 

Syaoran said, "If there are devils in this world, you're one of them." 

Shi Shi ignored that, "Before you go, here's some basics: 1. The missioners' hideout is way south, if you destroy their leader, then you destroy them all. 2. The missioners look basically human but they all have a devil shape tattoo on some part of their body, that's their weakness. 3. Each missioners has their own power so if........." 

"Hold on! Let me take some notes!" Syaoran grabbed a pencil and a piece of paper and started to write things down. Sakura couldn't help laughing. 

~~~~~ 

"It's a shame that I can't come with you." 

They were all standing in front of the door, ready to leave. 

"You can't, Shi Shi?" Sakura sounded disappointed. 

"No, I have to stay here." 

"One more thing, how come you know so much?" 

"My ancestor's the one who locked the hell's gate up, it's my duty to stay here and guide the heroes-you two." 

"Oh, I see...." 

"Here's some Ometin money, it isn't much, but I believe it'll be helpful." 

"Thanks." 

"Can we go now, Sakura?" Syaoran groaned. 

"Coming!" 

They waved as they said goodbye. 

"Nice, I can't believe this is our first date," Syaoran complained as he walked. 

Sakura smiled.  

"And we still have a long way to go." 

to be continued....... 

~~~~~ 

Man! That took forever!  I don't have any more energy left, so good night! -_-;;; 

Piggy Ho Ho '(oo)' 

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	3. New Friends and Enemies

I'm sooo sorry I took so long to get this up! Disclaimer is the same as before and goes for the rest of the chapters!  
  
~~~~~  
  
" I'll fight till the end for the sake of you safety...."  
  
CCS:The Legend of Ometin  
  
Chapter 2  
  
~~~~~  
  
Sakura skipped through the road of Ometin and sang as she walked.  
  
"I just don't see what's so great about being here?"  
  
"Oh, come on, think of it as a vacation or something."  
  
"You at least gets insurance if you get hurt on vacation. I'm not sure my insurance will cover me if I get hurt here."  
  
Sakura felt guilty, Syaoran obviously didn't want to be here. She remembered pulling him in to the swirl of lights, getting him to be involved, he's innocent, yet he's here, beside her, with her on her journey. She still thinks that she's responsible for this. She knew that she's being selfish, but she was happy that he was here with her, even....even when he didn't come volunteerly, she's still....glad that he's here.  
  
"Syaoran....."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"I'm sorry..."  
  
"For what?"  
  
"Well..."She was interrupted by a puff of smoke that's not too far away, it caught their attentions.  
  
It was a man on a running bird, the man looks wicked and cold hearted, and the bird looked, well, like a Chocobo. They were coming to Sakura's way in about a 100 metres per hour.  
  
"What's that..?"Sakura asked.(sweat drops)  
  
"A chocobo...I guess."  
  
"Chocobo?"  
  
"Ever play Final Fantasy before?Or Chocobo dungeons? Chocobo racing?"  
  
"No...but look, Syaoran!"  
  
There were someone else in front of them, a lady that's about 17~19, she saw the puff of smoke was heading her way, she tried to avoid it, be was tripped by a rock.  
  
"Careful!!!"Both Sakura and Syaoran yelled.  
  
Syaoran sprinted as fast as he can and pulled the lady out of the way, just in time.....  
  
"Watch where you're going, jerks!!"The man yelled.  
  
Geez, what's his problem?Sakura ran to Syaoran and the lady. "Are you alright...?"  
  
"Yeah..."  
  
The lady turned over "Thanks....thank you."  
  
"No problem." Syaoran helped her up.  
  
"I...I never seen you kids before...are you travelers?"  
  
Syaoran frowned, he didn't like the term 'kids'."Yes, we are."  
  
"It's almost dark, you guys should find a hotel, but....." the lady held back, and finally said "This is a farming village, there is no hotels around this area."  
  
"Oh man...."  
  
"But...." the lady when on "You can stay at my house if you don't mind."  
  
Sakura's face lightened up "Really, are you sure?"  
  
"I'll be more than graceful if you do. After all, you saved me from that evil man."  
  
"You know him?"  
  
"He's...our neighbor...."  
  
"Hoe?"  
  
"He moved in a month ago. Which is strange because nobody ever moves into the farm. People in this farm had their roots here."  
  
A month ago...when the missioners were set free.Syaoran thought.  
  
"Oh I'm sorry, I haven't introduce myself yet. I'm Ami, daughter of the Chan family."  
  
"My name is Sakura, nice to meet you."  
  
"The name is Syaoran."  
  
"Great, my house is not far away, come this way."  
  
~~~~~  
  
"Grandma! I'm home!"  
  
An old lady came out of the door, she was short, has white hair, and was have problems hearing and walking."Great, and you brought company." She has one of those accents that're almost impossible to understand.  
  
"Yes, grandma they saved me from the stupid neighbor."  
  
"They're our neighbors?"  
  
"No, grandma!! Saved!! From Terry!!! You know, our neighbor?"  
  
"I know Terry's our neighbor."  
  
Ami sighed, her grandma's hearing problem gets worst everyday."I'll give you kids a room, settle down and relax a little, I'll call you when dinner's ready."  
  
~~~~~  
  
Sakura put her backpack on the bed in the guest's room. She looked at Syaoran, who was resting on a chair, she tried to talk to him, but amazingly fast, Ami had already prepared dinner and called them to come to the dining room.  
  
They had a little conversation during dinner.  
  
"Ami, how's your neighbor?"Syaoran asked.  
  
"Who Terry? He's the worst! Problems started running in to this village the very minute he arrived. First, he lives like a pig, bringing rats into the farm, which is eating up our crops. 2nd, he treats the animals in his barn so badly, I think he's abusing it. And 3rd, we don't have any evidence yet, but I think he steals, people in the village had been losing stuff lately, if only we have evidence....."  
  
"Bad guy, huh?"  
  
"Psss....Syaoran." Sakura pulled on Syaoran's sleeve."Why are you so interested at him?"  
  
"I think we have a little devil in the village."  
  
"Hoe? Terry?"  
  
Syaoran just smiled.  
  
~~~~~  
  
"Feel free to use the bathrooms to bathe, I have to wake up early, so I'm off to my bed..."(yawn)  
  
"No problem." Sakura answered.  
  
~~~~~  
  
After Sakura took a bath and went back to her room; then she found Syaoran sitting on the bed.  
  
"Syaoran, did you take a bath?"  
  
"Oh, yeah, I did."  
  
She walked closer to him, and spoke with a soft voice "Syaoran, you don't want to be here, do you?"  
  
"What? What do you mean?"  
  
"Well, I mean in Ometin, you don't like to risk your life and save people who live here, do you? I mean after all, you don't have to be here at all, I pulled you in here, and it's all my fault. I got you into this...."  
  
"Is that why you said sorry today, and why you were being so sad?"  
  
"............"  
  
"Sakura, look at me."  
  
And she did. The moment their eyes meet, both of their heartbeat went crazy.  
  
"...Sakura, it's true that I don't want to be in Ometin, maybe I don't have to be here, but I'd rather be here with you to protect you than being back in Japan worrying about you. And remember what Shi Shi said? She said legendary heroes, right? Not one, but two. So it's faith that I'm here, not you."  
  
Sakura feels like crying.  
  
"Maybe it would have been better if....I don't know....Yukito was here instead of me or something..." He sounded....disappointed.  
  
"No, don't ever say that, I'm very glad you're here, more than anyone else...." And before she knew it, her tear came rushing down her face.  
  
"Silly girl, come here."  
  
She buried herself into his chest."Thank you........"  
  
"No problamo."  
  
~~~~~  
  
It was almost midnight when Sakura finished crying, then they ran into a major problem ------- there are two of them, and only one bed. why didn't I think of it earlier? Syaoran thought.  
  
"I guess, we can always share a bed......" Sakura suggested, than they looked at each other, who are they kidding, they'll stay awake all night if they do.  
  
"It's okay, I can sleep on the floor." Syaoran replied.  
  
"But it's hard! You won't be comfortable."  
  
"That's alright, I sleep on the floor some times during the summer."  
  
"Are you sure...?"  
  
But he's already putting blankets on the floor. "Sorry...." Sakura said.  
  
"That's not what you're suppose to say."  
  
"What than?"  
  
Syaoran blew out the candle."Good night."  
  
"...Good night...."She blushed a little and went to sleep.  
  
~~~~~  
  
"I'll fight till the end for the sake of your safety....."  
  
"Wha...who are you...?"  
  
Sakura woke up from sleep, the sun is shining through the window, birds are singing, she got up, and was getting off the bed........  
  
"OOOOOUUUUUUUUUCH!!!!!!!!!!"(Sakura stepping on Syaoran)  
  
"Ah!!! I'm so sorry, Syaoran!!! I forgot that you were here!!"  
  
"Just....Just get off me first, okay......"(in pain)  
  
"Oh!!" She jumped off him.  
  
"Ahhh..........."  
  
   
  
"Are you alright???"  
  
~~~~~  
  
The two of them walked out to the living room to find something for Syaoran's back, and saw Ami's grandma. "Excuse me, ummm, do you have anything for a tortured back?" Syaoran said in a teasing way.  
  
"You want to go back?"  
  
"Oh yeah, her hearing problem...YOUR GRANDDAUGHTER!! WHERE??"  
  
"Oh, you want Ami? She's outside, working in the stable."  
  
"THANKS!!"  
  
~~~~~  
  
They went into the stable, and the first thing they heard was a bird scream...or some sort of noise. "What is Ami doing?" Sakura said to herself, and walked towards the noise, since she can't walk fast because she was holding Syaoran. They didn't see Ami, but they did see the screaming bird, and.....Terry?  
  
"Stupid bird! Can't even run right!"  
  
He lifted his wipe, and was about to hit the chocobo....again.  
  
"STOP!"  
  
Sakura dumped Syaoran and ran forward to hold Terry back. But eventually she wasn't strong enough to do so.  
  
Syaoran went forward, not caring about his almost broken back, and pulled on the wipe.  
  
"Hold it buster, this is not a nice way to treat a bird."  
  
"None of your business, jerk face, this is my bird, I can do whatever I want to it."  
  
"KIDS!!!"They turned around, and found Ami standing under the doorway. "Ami?" Syaoran was kind of surprised, but still didn't like the way he call them 'kids'. "Kids, this is Terry's stable!!"  
  
Sakura and Syaoran's sweat drop, feeling a little embarrass. "T...Terry's?"  
  
Ami grabbed both of them , one on each arm."Sorry about that!!" Took a bow, apologized, and ran out as fast as she could possibly run.  
  
~~~~~  
  
"Drop us, Ami!"Syaoran shouted.  
  
Ami gently put them down when they reached the safety area."You kids were in great danger, that guy's no joke, he can squish you kids like bugs."  
  
"He's a meanie, huh?"  
  
"And you better believe it, I can't save your butts everytime."  
  
"Yeah, thanks, Ami."Sakura thanked her.  
  
"No big, why are you kids looking for me?"  
  
"Oh right! Syaoran, doesn't you back hurt?"  
  
Syaoran stretched, turned, did a few back flips, and said "Ahhh..........I guess it's okay now..."  
  
~~~~~  
  
Sakura and Syaoran was back at their room."Okay, so that was HIS chocobo. But I still don't like the way he treat that innocent bird."  
  
"There's nothing we can do, even if we wanted to."  
  
"I know, but.....the way that chocobo looked at me was...so sad."  
  
Syaoran can tell SHE was sad too, and he didn't like it. If he IS the missioner from hell, then the matter is simple."Let's go."  
  
"Where?"  
  
"To the devil's stable."  
  
"But Syaoran...."  
  
"I know what are you going to say, so save it, we're going."  
  
"No, Syaoran! It's just that....Ami said she made breakfast, and I'm hungry..."  
  
"Ahhhh......................."  
  
~~~~~  
  
After breakfast they snuck into Terry's stable. They saw the chocobo laying on top of some dried grass, it looked hurt.  
  
"Oh, poor thing..."  
  
   
  
"Where's that Terry."  
  
"Why would you want him?"  
  
"We're here to see wheather or not Terry's a missioner from hell."  
  
"I thought we're here to save the poor chocobo."  
  
"Well, that too..."  
  
"How do you know he's a missioner?"  
  
"Just feel like it I guess."  
  
"But how are we going to know for sure?"  
  
"Shi Shi said if they are, they'll have a devil shape tattoo on them, and that's they're weakness."  
  
"Sorry kids, sneakin' time's over."  
  
They were shocked, they turned around and saw Terry standing behind them.  
  
"Not that you know that I'm a missioner from hell, it seems that you also knew the weakness of our kind, I guess I don't have anything choice but to kill you." His eyes brighten as he speaks. His hand was getting hotter by the minute, until it was on fire."Prepare to die!" He shoots some kind of fire ball at them, Syaoran pulled out his sword and formed a shield around him, Sakura and the chocobo.  
  
They were fighting in the stable while Sakura tried to protect the chocobo. Syaoran was trying to hurt Terry (if that's his real name) and avoid his flame, but no matter where he cut him with the sword, the wounds always heal back."Where's the damn tattoo!?"  
  
It seems like that the chocobo heard what he said, and jumped up from the dried grass. "Chocy!" Sakura shouted.(it also seems like that she had given him a name)  
  
The chocobo ran towards the fire man, trying to avoid the fire, it bit of his shirt. And there it is, the tattoo, right on his back, it's about the size of a thumb, and it's red. Syaoran saw it, and with a quick reaction, he stabbed his tattoo.  
  
Terry screamed. His body went up in smoke, all it's left is his soul, floating away.  
  
"Sakura, the stone!"  
  
"I...I don't have it..."  
  
"What!!!!!!!!???????"  
  
"It's in my backpack! The backpack's in our room!!!"  
  
"God!!!"  
  
The chocobo was at it again, it picked up Sakura and Syaoran, put them on his back, and started dashing to Ami's house.  
  
"Wooooo!!!"Sakura can't do anything but to hold on to Syaoran who was sitting in front of her.  
  
~~~~~  
  
The chocobo ran into the house. Charging throw the guest room door, Syaoran picked up the back pack, and the chocobo jumped throw the window, and start running back to the stable.  
  
The soul's still floating away, it's fading away.  
  
Sakura reached for her stone and..."What am I suppose to do?"  
  
"I don't know!"They were getting close to it.  
  
When they got to a certain distance, the soul was being sucked into the crystal. "I think I just figured it out..."(sweat drops)  
  
~~~~~  
  
"I guess we owe you a big thank you kids, you saved our village from that devil, are you sure you can't stay longer...?"Ami asked as they say good bye.  
  
"No...we still have to get moving."Sakura grinned.  
  
"Well, I got you so food for you trip, and don't worry, we won't tell anyone that you're the legendary heroes. Right grandma?"  
  
"What rice? Have you cooked dinner yet?"  
  
"Grandma...."  
  
"So, I guess we have to go." Syaoran said.  
  
"Sure, good bye kids!"  
  
"One last thing....stop calling us kids."  
  
~~~~~  
  
They walked for a mile or two, then Syaoran finally asked"Why is that chocobo following us?"  
  
"Isn't it cute?"  
  
"We're not keeping it!"  
  
"Syaoran.....it helped us catch the soul of the missioner, we can ride on it for the trip."  
  
"But...."Syaoran stopped, and looked at Sakura's ultimate puppy dog face.I just don't have the guts to say no to her, do I?"Fine, we can keep it." It'll at least be nice for transportation.  
  
"Weeeeeeeee!!"  
  
They jumped on the chocobo.  
  
The chocobo was so happy that it got a new master (or two). Then without a warning, it dashed off towards the next city.  
  
to be continued.....  
  
[pic]  
  
That was short wasn't it, I'm kinda new at this.  
  
Okay, so the chocobo is kinda over doing it, at first I was thinking of a horse or something, but that's kinda normal, I mean, THIS IS OMETIN.  
  
Got comments? Email me!  
  
Piggy HoHo '(oo)'  
  
The ccs is officially Clamp's, this is totally fanwork. The chocobo officially belong to SquareSoft. 


	4. Witches and Hotel Troubles

Alright!Chapter 3!  
  
~~~~  
  
" I'll fight till the end for the sake of you safety...."  
  
CCS:THE LEGEND OF OMETIN  
  
   
  
Chapter 3  
  
~~~~~  
  
It was getting dark when Sakura and Syaoran arrived at the next town, and if they don't find a hotel soon, they're camping out.(Hint: they have no gear)  
  
They came to the door of the first hotel they saw, Syaoran jumped off Chocy, and knocked on the door. Moments later, an old woman came out and answer them."May I help you?"The woman said in an old and cranky voice.  
  
Syaoran swallowed, then said" Yes, we want a room...?" The old lady shook her head, and replied"We have no more room, it's a long weekend you see, and this happens to be one of the hottest tourist spots." She continued"Why don't you try some of the other hotels in the town." Then she closed the door. Sakura came up to him and asked "Well...?"Syaoran turned around, and told her "Let's try the next one."  
  
They got the same shot of answer from all the other inns they had tried, full, no rooms, try the next one...They almost gave up, until they finally ran in to a hotel that happened to have one room left. "You're in luck, we had one room left for the two of you." The owner of the hotel said. Syaoran turned back and told Sakura the good news "We've done it, we got ourselves a room, come on Sakura, come on Chocy!!"  
  
The hotel owner's ear wiggled when he heard the word "Chocy", "Wait a minute," he leaned forward and looked Syaoran right into the eyes "who or what is Chocy??"  
  
*I sense trouble*Syaoran thought."He...I mean...it is...our chocobo."Syaoran tried to avoid eye contacts.  
  
"No way."The owner said "No chocobos allowed."  
  
"What!?"Syaoran recalled"Why not?"  
  
The owner answered "We don't have a chocobo stable, it can't stay."  
  
"But, Mister , it doesn't need a stable, it's going to be perfectly fine sleeping on the street." Syaoran claimed nervously, he obviously didn't want to camp out.  
  
"Well," the owner soften,"it could sleep in the garage..."  
  
"Great!"Syaoran agreed a little too fast, when he went back and told what Sakura what happened, Sakura was not happy. She shook her head wildly,"NO WAY!!!NO WAY!!!NOOOOOO WAAAAYYYY!!!!!Chocy's a chocobo, not a car!!"  
  
"But Sakura..."Syaoran was having a hard time trying to calm her."This could be the only room in the town, if we don't stay, we'll have to sleep on a tree!"  
  
"I-don't-care!!Chocy has been rode by us for the whole day, is that how you treat him??"  
  
"Well..."  
  
"You can't...you just can't treat it like this..." Tears are coming out of her eyes,it slightly brighten her eyes, creating a perfect puppy dog face.  
  
*Oh no...the ultimate puppy dogface...*Syaoran thought,*there's no way I can get away with this...*It was hard enough to try and ignore Sakura's puppy dog face, to make the process even harder, Chocy was imitating Sakura's puppy dog face!! *No...double puppy dog faces attack...I'll die out of guilt.* "Alright!"Syaoran finally gave up."One more!We'll try one- more hotel, satisfied!?"  
  
"Weee~"Sakura and Chocy cheered.  
  
~~~~~  
  
They were standing in front of the door of the next hotel they saw on the way, this one was different, Syaoran couldn't tell what the difference was, something wasn't right, but what...?  
  
"Well,"Syaoran jumped off Chocy,"looks like this is the end of the line." He knocked on the door, then he heard footsteps, running to the door, a young man opened the door, he had long hair, and was about 14~16, he answered the door with a huge smile on his face."Welcome, welcome! How may I help you in anyway at all?"  
  
The smile really scared Syaoran.*What the heck is with this guy anyway?*he thought"Ahh...we want a room." Sakura popped out of no where and added "With chocobo stables!"  
  
"With chocobo stables."Syaoran repeated.  
  
"Oh, we got plenty of rooms for you and your chocobos."  
  
"Len!"An elder boy came out, and pressed the younger boy's head.  
  
"Sorry that he was rude,"the guy turned toward the younger one."Did you tell them?"He asked.  
  
"But Leo!! If I tell'em they'll..."  
  
The older guy gave him a no-excuses-look. The younger guy turned toward Syaoran and Sakura and said in a unsatisfied way,"Our hotel has...you know, creepy stuffs."  
  
Sakura's face turned pale,"You mean...like, ghost?"  
  
"Whatever..."the younger man answered.  
  
"Syaoran~!!"Sakura hid behind him."It's just too scary~"  
  
"Or,"Syaoran said,"we can always stay at the no-chocobos-allowed hotel..." He turned toward Sakura.  
  
"Ooooohhhhh nooooooo....this has got to be the hardest decision of my life...."Sakura wined as she chose the haunted place.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Sakura can't stop looking around their room to make sure that there was absolutely, positively, no ghost in their room. She turned around, and found Syaoran opening the door to get out."Hold it!!" She yelled, "Where do you think you're going?"  
  
Syaoran answered her in a no-big-deal tone."Just going for a bath, they have hot spring here, you know that?"  
  
"No..." Sakura replied,"and I don't want to know either. How long will you be gone?"  
  
"Look, if you're scare, you can always go to the stable to play with Chocy." After that, he left. Leaving Sakura alone in the room.  
  
~~~~~  
  
After the bath in the hot spring, Syaoran saw the younger man that opened the door, drinking a cup of tea and staring at the window.  
  
"If you drink tea now, you can't go to sleep later in the night." Syaoran said. The guy glanced at him, then drew his attention back to the window. Syaoran sat beside him, and asked him,"You and your brother runs this hotel?"  
  
"It's all we've got" the guy said,"Leo and I put our souls into this place, and look at it, it's long weekend and we only have you, your girlfriend and your chocobo. We're not gonna pay the bills if it continues like this."  
  
"Because of the ghost thing, huh?"  
  
"Yeah....ever since the rumor spread, we've got no customers. It's all that witch's fault, she started the rumor!"  
  
"Witch??"  
  
"Well, magician to be exact, but I still think she's a witch!!"  
  
"Yeah...sure..."  
  
"She came outta no where, not long after her arrival she started to say that she feels ghosts in this hotel, and told everyone to stay away from here. What did we do to her, how come she has to do that?"  
  
"Well, do you think there're ghost in this hotel?"  
  
"Heck NO!"  
  
"Does Leo?"  
  
"No way!"  
  
"Good, then all you've got to do is keep believing in it, it sounds stupid but believe me, things will eventually turn out to be alright. I mean, look at me, I'm staying aren't I?"  
  
Len soften his tone. "Thanks."  
  
"No problem." Syaoran got up, and walked back to his room.  
  
Inside his room was Sakura, sleeping like a baby. "It must be tired to be afraid of ghosts." Syaoran teased as he put a sheet of blanket on her.  
  
~~~~~  
  
"Are you here again~!?"  
  
Someone was arguing downstairs, that woke Syaoran, he got up, seeing Sakura was still asleep at the other bed next to his, he got up quietly, and went downstairs to check things out. He saw Len arguing with a woman that has curly long hair that came down to the floor. She turned around and saw Syaoran peeking at the back.  
  
Syaoran jerked as she caught his eye, he walked towards them, trying to act casual,"Hey, what's up with the big fight?"  
  
The woman turned and bowed, Syaoran was surprised that she did and had to reply with a bow himself. "The name is Cuzza, and I suggest you stay out of this hotel."  
  
*She jumped right to the point.*Syaoran thought. "Now wait!!" Len shouted, "do you have to scary away our every customer, they have choices too, they wanted to stay!! So let them stay in peace!!"  
  
"I am saying this for their sake, you too," She turned and faced Len."you should get out of here. It will do you no good staying."  
  
"In your dreams, slime face!" Len returned with an insult. Cuzza ignored that and began to walk off. "She's...the magician?" Syaoran asked after she left the hallway. "You got it,bud. She's the darn witch that's been spreading rumors about us having ghosts in the hotel." Len replied.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Cuzza stood in front of the hot spring, she stared at it for a while. She pulled out her ring, and dropped it into the water. She turned and left the spring, she smiled as she left.  
  
~~~~~  
  
"I'll fight till the end for the sake of your safety..."  
  
The image of the person who said that was getting blurry, Sakura can't see his, or her face because of the fog. The voice sounds awfully familiar.  
  
"You're...is that you?!" Sakura shouted. But there was no reply. "Answer me!! Is that you!? Are you okay!?"  
  
Still no responds. Sakura's getting worry.  
  
Then the image of the person fainted away, Sakura had a feeling that she would never see him/her ever again.  
  
"No...no..." Sakura repeated.  
  
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"  
  
Sakura woke up from her nightmare. Still breathing hard, Syaoran held her,"Calm down, it was just a dream!" she was sweating hard too. She turned to Syaoran, "Oh...thank god it was just a dream..."  
  
"What? What did you dream about?"  
  
"Well, I can't remember, but it was horrible."  
  
"Then just forget about it, it'll do you no good keeping it in your mind." He brushes her hair, "You're sweating." "Yeah..."  
  
Syaoran smiled, "Take a bath at the hot spring, you'll feel better."  
  
"Nooo..." Sakura wined, "It's got ghost..."  
  
"Sakura, it's morning, the ghost wouldn't come out even if they try, now let's go."  
  
"I can't...even if I try!!....Unless!!" She looked straight into Syaoran's eyes. Syaoran blinked, then when he got what she was thinking he practically turned into a tomato, "No...if you're thinking what I'm thinking of...no way!!"  
  
"Come on, Syaoran!!!!!"  
  
~~~~~  
  
"This is relaxing." Sakura recalled when she was in the hot spring.  
  
"Well,I'm glad you enjoyed it." Syaoran said.  
  
"Sorry, Syaoran, but I really can't do this myself."  
  
"......" Syaoran was sitting at the boy side of the hot spring, leaning on the wall, with clothes on. Sakura was staying close to the wall as she bathed in the hot spring in the girl's side of the hot spring. The boy and the girl side share a wall, so this way, at least Sakura would feel like Syaoran was by her side so that she wouldn't be that scared.  
  
"Thanks...." Sakura said softly to Syaoran. Syaoran blushed, just thinking that Sakura is only 2 inches away from him with nothing on would turn him into a tomato. He tried to avoid the thought. Sakura sank into the hot spring, the hot spring water made her forget everything about that horrible dream; she closed her eyes, and enjoyed it.  
  
Neither of them said a thing for a short while, too embarrassed maybe, both of them kept quite for a while. Then a body of water rose from the hot spring water, "What the..." before Syaoran finished his sentence, it attacked him, with its pressure, it pushed him against the wall, making a big bang. Sakura knew something wasn't right at the other side, she yelled, "Syaoran?! Syaoran, are you alright?" There were no reponses for a short while, then Syaoran managed to answer, "Arrr...stay where you are Sakura, whatever you do, don't come over here!"  
  
*Why would I want to go to a man's side of the bathroom?* Sakura thought. She snapped back to the matter, "What's going on?"  
  
At the other side, Syaoran tried to get his sword hanging on his waist, but the moment he got it out, the body of water hit his hand, making him dropped the sword, when Syaoran tried to reached for it, the water gave him another hard bang. Syaoran yelled in pain.  
  
*I've got to help him!* Sakura got up, briefly put her clothes on, and headed over to the other side.  
  
Syaoran was forced to the corner, he was trapped, the water rose higher, to finish him. He closed his eyes, prepared for the attack. "Shield!" Sakura used the card shield to protect Syaoran just as the water attacked. The body of water splashed into a million directions, Sakura canceled the shield, and ran towards him. "Are you okay?" She knelt beside him. The water gathered, and rose again. There's no way to stop it now....  
  
Suddenly, the body of water stopped, it backed away. "Return to where you came from!" a voice shouted from behind. The body of water disappeared in to the pool of hot spring. Sakura and Syaoran turned around with curiosity, then they saw her, it was Cuzza.  
  
"I warned you," she walked closer, "I warned you to stay out of here, but you wouldn't listen. Now you have angered the souls that live here." Not long after, Len and Leo walked in."What happened, we heard a lot of noises!"  
  
"You are one step too late," Cuzza said, facing them, "I've calmed the ghosts...for now." Her voice turned cold. "Now will you believe me and get out of here?"  
  
*Something's not right...* Syaoran thought. Leo turned his attention to Syaoran and Sakura, "Are you hurt?" he asked. "Wouldn't kill me." Syaoran answered casually."I'm glad. But maybe you should take the magician's advice, and leave this place at once."  
  
Syaoran looked at Len, who would usually whine or try to talk Leo into changing his words, but this time he just stood there, disappointed. He believed that there was no ghost in this hotel, he believed that this hotel was safe. No, he was wrong, and he let this happen to his customers, he doubted himself.  
  
Then Syaoran looked at Sakura, she was frightened, scared, shaking as she hold his hand tight. This might be a mistake, and everyone ------ maybe even Sakura, would not like this idea, but he had to do it. He took a deep breath, and said "I'm staying."  
  
Everyone was shocked when they heard those words, they talked at once, some include "Are you crazy?", or "What the #*&%$@ are you talking about!?". But Syaoran ignored them, Sakura was the only one who didn't make any comments on his decision, she knew that Syaoran had a reason, and she believed in him.  
  
~~~~~  
  
About an hour later, when everyone else left, Syaoran and Sakura were back at the hot spring again. He turned to Sakura "Are you scared? You don't have to go by my way you know, you can always object me."  
  
"But I believe in you, I know you did this for a reason." That was all Syaoran needed to hear to carry on his plans. Sakura asked,"Mind to share it?"  
  
"It wasn't normal," Syaoran began to explain. "it wasn't like this when I was here last night. It all began when Cuzza came by this morning, and how could she managed to save us just in time?"  
  
"You mean..."  
  
"Yes...she could be one of them..." Syaoran continued. "The missioners."  
  
"What...?"  
  
Syaoran walked into the pool of hot spring,"Syaoran! Be careful!" Once again the body of water emerged from the pool, this time Syaoran's already to battle, he jumped towards it with the sword in his hand, they fought for a short while, then both of them sank into the water. Air bubbles were bursting out of the water, Sakura waited nervously, and she walked closer. The air bubbles stopped, and then there was silence. "Sy...Syaoran..?" Sakura's heart beated faster and faster, a short while later, Syaoran rose to the surface of the water, breathing hard. He walked towards Sakura. "Syaoran!!You alright?"  
  
"I'm fine, but look what I found." He held up a silver ring with a blue crystal on it. "This, is where the power of the thing came from. We won't be seeing that anymore." He said, as he crushed the crystal.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Cuzza was back at her resident, enjoying her tea, but she sensed something, and stood up. "The ring..." she said, "How could it be...? Someone defeated it?" She put on her cape, and walked towards the hotel."  
  
~~~~~  
  
"How did that get in there?" Sakura asked.  
  
"Cuzza probably dumped it here this morning."  
  
"She was here this morning?"  
  
"Yeah, while you were sleeping like a baby." Syaoran teased.  
  
"Syaoran..." Sakura was not very happy with the comment. She continued, "So there is no ghosts here all along? It was all Cuzza?"  
  
"I don't know...it's still too early to state that."  
  
Cuzza walked into the their sights. "So you are the legendary heroes huh? I must say I am disappointed, is that the best that the legendary heroes could do?"  
  
Sakura and Syaoran drew their attention to her *Then again...* Syaoran thought, *It could've been her all along.*  
  
"We knew what you've been up to, so give it up!" Sakura said with a shake voice.  
  
"I suggest you don't, because you see, I'm one missioner you can't beat, for I-am-immortal!!!" She lifted her hands up in air, energy balls gathered, then she moved her hands forward, commanding them to attack, the fire balls flew towards Sakura and Syaoran. "DUCK!!"Syaoran yelled, ducking. Sakura pulled out a card, then point her staff to it,"JUMP!!" she commanded the card, and she jumped into the air.  
  
"Or that." Syaoran recalled from the bottom. He turned to Cuzza, "You're not immortal, you've got to have a tattoo somewhere."  
  
"Ahh...that's the lovely part ----- I removed the tattoo." Cuzza replied in an evil voice.  
  
"What??"  
  
"You heard me, the tatoo its not on any part of my body, I've removed it since the day I heard of the legendary heroes...but I have over estimate you little brats, you can't beat me even when the tattoo is not removed."  
  
"Syaoran, what do we do?" Sakura couldn't think, her mind was all mixed up, it this the end...?  
  
*Think...* Syaoran thought. *think...Syaoran!! The tattoo may be removed, but it would still be effective if I destroyed it, but...where is it?? Where could it possible be...* Then it hit him. "...I GOT IT!!!"  
  
He grabbed Sakura's hand and ran towards the hot spring pool. Cuzza knew what was he trying to do, and shot some more energy balls at them, but they all missed. "No...how did he..."  
  
They jumped into the pool, Sakura couldn't breath, she managed to open her eyes and she saw a cave!! Underwater!!  
  
Syaoran went in to the cave, Sakura followed. It led to another cave, and this one has air. They reached the surface, Sakura coughed and choked, Syaoran smooth her back, "Sorry...it was kind of harsh wasn't it?"  
  
"(cough, cough)it's alright, I'm okay" They both got on shore, and looked around the cave, it was rocky, at the end of the cave was a piece of paper, glowing, and floating in the air. "That's it, the tattoo!" Syaoran got up and slowly walked towards it. "How did you know it is here?" Sakura asked.  
  
"Because she was trying to protect this place, she spread rummors to make peaple stay out of this place, and when she found out that someone actually crazy enough to stay at this hotel, she tried to scare us, warned us. And when that didn't work, she left the ring here to act as a guardian to stay and make sure no one gets into this cave."  
  
Sakura stared at him, to her Syaoran is always reliable, she knows she'll be safe around him. She'll be alright as long as he's here.  
  
At that moment, Cuzza entered the cave, "You can never beat me!!! I-AM- IMMORTAL!!!!!!" She gathers all her power into one big giant ball, and shot it. Syaoran jumped out of the way, and the ball hit the top of the cave, it weaken the support, rocks collapsed. "The cave!!" Sakura yelled. "It's going to collapse, we have to get out of here!!"  
  
"Yes," Syaoran replied, "But after this!" The falling cave caught Cuzza's attention, Syaoran chopped the tattoo in half with his sword. "NOOOOOO!!!" Cuzza's body evaporated into a soul, Sakura took out her crystal, and the soul was sucked into it.  
  
Time was running out, Syaoran and Sakura dived in to the entrance where they came from, and made it out just in time. *Glad that was over...* Syaoran thought.  
  
~~~~~  
  
The next day, Len and Leo's hotel was all full, since everyone knows that Cuzza was a liar after all. Sakura, Syaoran and Chocy stood there watching Len come and go, then Len made a sudden stop, and looked at them. "Hi, how may I help you?"  
  
"Just to say good-bye..." Syaoran said with a big sweat on the head. "Oh, well, yeah, bye." A customer called, and he rushed over to the counter.  
  
*Maybe I should've let Cuzza live after all.* Syaoran thought. They were about to leave when Len yelled, "Hey!" They turned around, "Thanks" he said. Then went back to work.  
  
"You welcome." Syaoran said, then they walked out of the hotel, and continued their journey.  
  
to be continued....  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Alright, feedback, I want to know how you think!  
  
I think I'm writing too much about Syaoran, and not enough on Sakura, I think I'll try to change it.  
  
Next chapter!! Sakura and Syaoran went to the lost wood...  
  
And encase you have a short term mermory --- feedback!!  
  
Piggy Ho Ho 


	5. A Not Nice Walk Through the Forest

Authors note:  
  
I've been using different quotes for thoughts in the story....(), , * *...etc...but this time it's settled! It's gonna be [ ]!![pic]  
  
More, chapter 4!  
  
~~~~~  
  
"I'll fight till the end for the sake of you safety..."  
  
CCS:THE LEGEND OF OMETIN  
  
Chapter 4  
  
~~~~~  
  
Sakura and Syaoran continued their journey in Ometin. They stopped in front of a huge wood. The trees in the wood are so close together, Chocy could only barely squeeze through it. The trees aren't only close, they are tall too. Everyone of them are at least ten meters tall. Inside the forest was dark, the leaves of the trees had covered up the sunlight. Chocy could had ran through it like he usually does,but the trees are too close together, if he ran in full speed, it would have hit.  
  
Sakura and Syaoran jumped off Chocy, trying to figure out which way is better, going through the woods, or around it.  
  
"Let's go around it, it looks scary..."Sakura suggested.  
  
"But it might take much longer." Syaoran argued. "Just look how long it goes." he pointed. He was right, it does go on forever, so she gave up, and went in to the woods.  
  
They walked for 30 minutes, Syaoran in front to make sure it's safe to walk, and Sakura at the back, holding Chocy. Suddenly,a net came up from the ground, and lifted them up high into the air. They were dangling on a tree before they realized what happened.  
  
"And I thought you were supposed to make sure it was safe to walk." Sakura complained.  
  
"Hey!" Syaoran shouted angrily, "No one would have seen that coming!"  
  
"And I thought I caught it." A voice came from the bottom of the net. "Who are you, and why are you here?"  
  
It was a young girl, a bit older than Sakura and Syaoran, she dressed like a ninja, but not quite. She also looked mean.  
  
"I...I'm sorry, can you let us down first?"Sakura asked gently.  
  
"How do I know that you're not invaders." The girl asked with a mean voice. "I come in peace." Syaoran joked. Sakura hit him. "Really," Sakura tried to talk her in to it. "we didn't come in the woods to harm you..." The girl took a better look at them. "Hmmm...." she said. "Yeah...you look too weak for a bunch of invaders." [weak?] Syaoran thought. [I could take out 10 of you.] The girl let the net down, then cutting the rope. They dropped on the ground, "...thanks..." Sakura said. "But next time, you could let us down gently."  
  
"Who are you?" The girl asked, still a little mean.  
  
"My name is Sakura, this is Syaoran and our chocobo Chocy. We're just...." She remembered Shi Shi, telling them not to tell anyone about their true identities ---- the legendary heroes. She hesitated, then came up with: "traveling through the world, we're travelers." [Is that the best one she could think of?] Syaoran thought.  
  
Silent. Then the girl said, "Nice, I'm Kyn, but it's getting dark, you can't sleep out here in the wood. It's way too dangerous. Why don't you stay at my chamber for a night, you can't cross these woods before the sun sets."  
  
"Really?" Sakura asked, "Is that okay? Then we'll do it, thanks."  
  
"Great, come this way." She waved. Then walked ahead.  
  
Sakura was flattered, she never thought that Kyn would be nice enough to let them stay at her chamber. "Oh, yeah, one more thing." Kyn added."You have to work for you stay."  
  
"What...?" That wiped Sakura's smile off her face.  
  
"You don't think you'd stay for free, do you? You'll have to cook, clean, wash...."  
  
[It's just too good to be true, isn't it?] Sakura thought.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Back at Kyn's chamber, Sakura put down her backpack and rested her feet while Syaoran sat down at a stair's step, petting Chocy. Then Kyn came along and ordered them to go out and help her on her hunt for tonight's dinner. "We have to hunt down something or we'll all eat mud for dinner."  
  
Sakura was still tired from the walk, but she has no choice but to go. Sakura went to Chocy, and told him to be a good boy and stay while they were gone. After that, they're off to hunt.  
  
Kyn was carrying a bow and some arrows with her, looking around for some prey. Then she heard something, she stopped and looked around. It was a round headed creature with a cow like body, only one or two feet tall. One of those Ometin animals. She wind the arrow, aimed, and shot. It was a direct hit, it hit the creature's rib, then it laid down and didn't move a muscle, it was dead. They walked closer to it. Sakura turned away, feeling sorry for the poor creature. The way Kyn killed that creature was smooth, and emotionless, with no concern about the creature's pain and feelings, Sakura hated that.  
  
"Great, we've got a prey, you." She pointed to Syaoran, "Carry it." Syaoran frowned. Then put the corpus over his shoulders. "You were very professional at...killing." Syaoran commented. Kyn turned around and looked at him. "What do you mean?"  
  
"It's not too often that you see a girl so good at walking around shooting animals."  
  
"You have to be when you're trained to be a ninja." She said, quietly.  
  
"Ninja?" Syaoran and Sakura both asked surprisingly.  
  
"I'm a child from the famous ninja family, I'm suppose to live independently in the woods until I'm ready to accept the great ninja test."  
  
They were all silenced for a minute. "But...living here is getting difficult." she continued. "Since it came..."  
  
"It?" Both Sakura and Syaoran asked.  
  
"I don't know what it is either, it was a very strange and strong creature. It all started about a mouth ago...I was hunting as usual, just when I got a prey it came out! It hit me on the shoulder, making me dropped my prey and ran off with it! From that day forward, I kept finding animal skeletons around the wood."  
  
"Skeletons...?" Sakura said with a shaky voice.  
  
"It's been eating other animals in the wood, you know what that means?" She stared at Sakura, "No...no, what does it mean?"  
  
"It's going to be harder for me to find other preys, that's why I put up all these traps , to trap it. Still...that thing is pretty strong, it's going to get more dangerous once it gets dark. But....it's also a good opportunity...to prove myself that I'm ready to take the great test. That's why I want to defeat it." She slammed her fist into her palm.  
  
"Sorry to interrupt. But if you're gonna stand here and keep blabbing on about this thing, I'm pretty sure it will get us. Plus my arms are tired from carrying this animal."  
  
"Oh, that's right!" Kyn said. "We have to go, the sun is almost setting. She turned and ran toward the chamber.  
  
Something was spying on them, it moves closer them, cautiously, not to make noises. It followed them for a while,patiently waited, until it got to a close enough distance, it leaped into the air. The shadow of it came closed to Syaoran, Kyn noticed it right away, and pushed Syaoran back. The thing scratched Kyn's shoulder, riping away piece of her clothes, but it didn't harm her physically. "Kyn!!" Syaoran and Sakura shouted. "Stay back!" she yelled. "This is too dangerous for you, run! Run for the chamber! I'll handle this." [I have to handle it, I have to prove myself as a ninja!] she thought.  
  
The creature was big, lion like, looking more like a beast. It attacked with great deal of speed and strong forces. Kyn must act carefully or she could be killed. It jumped towards her, jaws opened, trying to bite her, she leaped sideways, avoiding the attack. The beast swiped its tail, slapping her face, she did a back roll and landed back on her feet. Kyn pulled an arrow out of her back, wind it up and shot it, it bit the arrow into two like a tooth pick. Kyn backed up a little. The beast knew it had the advantage.  
  
Syaoran watched the fight in fear, Sakura pulled his arm, and began to run. "What are you doing?" She asked, "we have to go!" They ran for a second, then Syaoran let go of Sakura. "You go on ahead!"  
  
"What?" she was shocked. "What about you?"  
  
"I'll try to help Kyn!" he started to go back where Kyn was. Sakura grabbed his arm, "You can't, you'll get hurt! She's a trained ninja she'll be fine, didn't you hear her?"  
  
"No..." Syaoran said. "Not this time...not against that." She saw the look om Syaoran's face, there was softness and kindness that he only had in front of her. [Why...] she thought, [why is he so worried about her? Didn't they just met? How come he has to do this?] she didn't like the idea of Syaoran caring for another girl, there's a pain inside of her, a pain she had never experienced before. It hurts her.  
  
Syaoran ran back, and saw Kyn, defeated, leaning against a tree, her wounds weren't serious, but she was exhausted. Syaoran ran in front of her and brought out the sword. "Stay behind me!" He said.  
  
"What are you doing?" Kyn shouted, "It's too dangerous, you can't handle him!"  
  
The beast jumped towards Syaoran, Syaoran swang his sword, cutting off some of its fur. It lifted its paw up, ready for another scratch, Syaoran took the chance, swang the sword wildly and injured its eye, it roared in pain and retreated. Syaoran breathed quickly as he collapsed on his knees, he turned back and asked Kyn, "You alright?"  
  
"Yeah..." she answered. "You're good."  
  
He smiled. "I've been doing a bit of training myself." He helped her up. "Thanks." she said. "For saving me."  
  
"Hey, you saved me first remember?"  
  
Sakura saw it all, how he ran anxiously to save her, how he fought against the deadly beast to save her, and how he gently helped her up. Each and everyone of these actions hurt her in a way she could never imagine. Tears came down on her face, didn't know why, and didn't know how. Syaoran saw her, and began to walk towards her. [No...] she thought. [Don't...] Then she said. "Don't come....any closer..." he stopped. "Sakura?" She wasn't herself,"Are you okay...?" [Am I okay?] She thought. [I'm better than ever, what's wrong with me, I can't stand it anymore. Stop calling my name, stop talking to me....] He walked closer. "Sakura...?" [Stop it!! Stop everything!!! Stop walking towards me, stop asking me, stop.....]  
  
[Stop....being so nice to....another girl...]  
  
[I...I don't want you to risk you life for another girl! I don't want you to runaway from me like that! I don't...]She shook her head, backing up from him."I don't want it!!" She shouted, and ran off into the woods.  
  
"Sakura??!!!!" Syaoran yelled, he tried to catch up to her, but she disappeared into the woods. "Wha....why did she run off?" He said, confused, to him, all he did was saving someone that saved him before, what's wrong with that? Kyn came to him,and said "You better go find her, it's getting dark."  
  
"Why...it's not like her at all, why would she run off like that, did I...do something wrong?" Kyn felt guilty, she knew that Sakura was upset because of her."It's a girl thing...now go!" Syaoran nodded, and ran to find her.  
  
~~~~~  
  
[How could I just walk off like that? If dad was here, he would've said how rude I am.] Sakura was wondering around in the forest. It's getting dark, she has been walking around for half an hour, the air was getting cold, she wants to go back, but was too ashamed of what did she do. [But it was my fault, I have to go back and apologize to Syaoran...] She turned around, trying to go back to the chamber. [If I could that is....oh great, I'm lost....] Every direction she turn, it looked exactly the same, trees,trees, and more trees. She couldn't tell where she came from, so much for where to go...  
  
She wish Syaoran was here, he'll know what to do, he always does. Always there for her, always protecting her. [I wish he's here, I wish I can see him, why? Why did I run out on him like that if I knew I'll miss him? Is he worry about me too...?]  
  
~~~~~  
  
Syaoran ran around in the wood. The night has come, and the air is getting chilly, and what's worst, the beast that attacked Kyn was is still out there. Sakura could be in real danger. He didn't know where she is, or where is he going, he keeps running forward. He didn't care where he'd end up, as long as he ends up with Sakura by his side.  
  
He kept going and going, till he sees something in front of him. He stopped  
  
The chamber.  
  
[Great!] He thought, [I've been going in a huge circle!]  
  
He was about to take off again, but he paused, and looked back to the chamber.  
  
~~~~~  
  
It moves in a smooth motion, barely making any noise, it was looking for preys, looking for innocent animals that are too weak to fight back. The last fight with that human really made him hungry. It shifted its view from left to right, groaning softly, it saw its prey.  
  
A defenceless little girl, out here in the dark, with no guardians to protect her, scared, and lonely.  
  
Sakura.  
  
~~~~~  
  
-----In side the chamber-----  
  
Kyn was putting bandages on her wounds, sitting beside the fire place, she looked at her ninja suit. It was torned by the beast, she thought of her fight with that beast, completely defenceless against it, she feels ashamed, beaten. [I'll never become a ninja...]She thought, hugging her legs. [I can't even beat that silly little pup....]  
  
She looked at her bow, [No....] She picked up the bow. [I am Kyn, the ninja, I will not give up!]  
  
She grabbed her bow and ran out of the chamber.  
  
~~~~~  
  
[Syaoran...he's probably still mad at me for being so rude...] Most people would think of how to get to the chamber if they are in Sakura's position, but right now, Sakura is just thinking about how mad Syaoran will be when he finds her. How unusual...  
  
Then she heard it, movements, in the bushed near her, she became alarmed, she looked at the direct of which the sound came from. "Syaoran...is that you?"  
  
There was no answers, her heart pounded faster, as she look around. [The clow cards!] She thought, [I'll use them to protect me!! She toke out the key, but when she searched around her pocket, she remembered that her Clow cards are in her backpack!!  
  
The noise became closer, and faster...she looked around and couldn't see a thing but trees. It gets closer, and closer...until...  
  
It attacked her.  
  
It leaps into the air with its powerful back leg, and opened its jaws, preparing to serve her as a meal. Its teeth were just inches away from her...  
  
"Thunder! I call upon you!"  
  
Lighting stroke the beast, sending it flying a few feet away from Sakura. She turned to looked...  
  
"Syaoran..." She was more than graceful to see him, he was riding Chocy, with his sword and her backpack. "Sakura!!" He called. "Are you alright?"  
  
[My hero...] Those were the first words that came to her mind when she saw him. She ran towards him, and squeezed him like a stuffed animal. He almost suffocated. "I was scared...really really scared..."  
  
"Scared of the beast killing you?"  
  
"No...scared that you may never talk to me again..."  
  
"Oh..."(sweat drop) + (blushing)  
  
[Um...sorry to break the moment guys..] Chocy thought as it tapped Syaoran's shoulder. [But I think the hot dog you just fried isn't quite happy.]  
  
It was pisted alright, its face was redder than a rotten tomato. It's tail swung back and forth, like tauting a prey...its nose is blowing out steam....  
  
Then it attacked, once again, it jumps towards them.  
  
"AAAhhhh!It's coming!! Sakura!! Stop squeazing me!!I can't move!!"  
  
"What...?" She turned around and saw the mad beast."AAAAHHHHHHH!!" Too bad it only made her squeazed harder...  
  
And when it was about to reach them....(come on now, you all know how it will turn out, you can guess...)...an arrow hit it right in its head.  
  
It fell on the grass, Sakura and the others look to the direction where the arrow came from...  
  
"Kyn..."  
  
She was still holding the same position when she shoot her arrow. Then she finally relaxed when she saw the beast collapsed. She breathed hardly...and finally said."I...did it....?"  
  
But the beast still managed to stand up, and made a counter attack at Sakura and Syaoran. Sakura released her staff, and used the card "jump" just in time, Kyn watched in fear, as she see the beast still moving --- with the arrow on its head!!How disgusting!!"It can't be...IT CAN'T BE!!" She cried.  
  
Sakura and Syaoran were still in the air, and something caught Syaoran's eye...[What?] He thought. [That means...] "Sakura, when we land, I'm gonna go for its left back leg, you'll go grab the crystal!"  
  
"What?" Sakura said. "Does that mean that thing is a missioner too?"  
  
"I'm not sure...I thought I saw something like a tattoo at its back leg...I'm going to give it a shot!"  
  
"But what if it wasn't!You'll be killed."  
  
"Sakura...we have to take the chance. Look at it! Kyn shoot an arrow at its head and its still moving! Sakura you have to trust me!"  
  
Sakura looked Syaoran in the eyes, her worriness suddenly became courage, and nodded as a respond.  
  
"Here we go!" Syaoran yelled as they landed. He ran towards the beast ---- head to head. Sakura stayed behind him, and reached for the crystal.  
  
"What are they doing, are they insane?" Kyn commended. Unlike Kyn, Chocy, was sitting beside a tree, watching them, he knows what they're doing.  
  
Syaoran ducked as the beast slashes with its claws. He brings the sword in front of him, and cut its left foot. It shines as he cut it. The beast screamed, it gives Chocy goosebumbs, Sakura used the crystal to suck its soul, just in time.  
  
Syaoran breathed hardly as he sat on the ground. Sakura came to him with the crystal in her hand. "I caught it..."  
  
Syaoran patted her head. "Well done..." Sakura smiled. ~~~~~  
  
"Heroes....I never knew the legend was true. I've been in this forest so long I never knew that the missioners were on the loose." Kyn said as they prepare to leave in the morning.  
  
"Please Kyn...please don't tell anyone about this...!" Sakura begged.  
  
"......" Kyn shook her shoulders. "What are you talking about? Don't tell anyone what?I don't know anything." Then she turned around to the chamber, and waved. "Catch you later."  
  
[Thanks...]Sakura thought.  
  
~~~~~  
  
They walked in silence. Chocy wasn't getting used to it at all. Then finally, as if the day would never come, they had reached the exit of the lost woods, and a great big flower field welcomed them. Sakura ran in excitement. "Wow~!" Chocy followed close after her. She picked a few flowers. "Let me make you a flower ring, Chocy!" Chocy nodded, and cheered. Syaoran looked at this peaceful sight, and sighed.  
  
He walked close to Sakura. "Are you...still...mad?"  
  
"Huh..what...?"  
  
"Well, you look pretty upset when you took off yesterday..."  
  
"Oh...that..." Sakura didn't know what to say, she didn't know what made her do that. She was just mad when she saw Syaoran and..."It's no big deal," she shrugged, "let's shake our hands and make up, like nothing had happened." She took out her hand.  
  
[Oh please...] Chocy thought. [Everyone's heard of kiss and make up, but who'd heard off shake hands and make up??]  
  
Syaoran lift his shoulders."Ok...I guess..."  
  
[Oh please, you not really gonna do it are you? She'll think you hate her!] Chocy thought(with a dirty mind). [Don't you put out that hand...no!Geez...you need help, you have absolutely no experience with girls, here, allow me.] The Chocy kicked Syaoran, making his lose his balance and fall on top of Sakura and landed on a flower bed.  
  
[There you go...]  
  
Neither of them moved. Then Syaoran got up, and looked at Sakura. "Sorry...I didn't..."  
  
"You did that on purpose!" Sakura cut him off.  
  
"No!! I..."  
  
"So...we made up right?"  
  
"??"  
  
She smiled. "Let's just move on!!" She sang as she got up.  
  
Syaoran got up after her. "I don't get girls." He commended. [Kid, you'll need a lot of help.]Chocy thought, as they head of to their next adventure. 


	6. Fairy Festivals and Play Troubles

Live! Chapter 5!  
  
~~~~~  
  
"I'll fight till the end for the sake of your safety..."  
  
CCS:THE LEGEND OF OMETIN  
  
Chapter 5  
  
~~~~~  
  
As they walked out of the woods, Sakura, Syaoran and Chocy came to a village entrance, the village was filled with people and shops, it looks like a festival. Sakura seems very excited, "Wow...." she cried as she ran towards the entrance. "Hey!" Syaoran yelled, "Wait!!" he called as he tried to catch up to her with Chocy.  
  
It was indeed, very crowded, she walked from one store to another; there were jewelry stores, restaurants, toys stores, and anything you can imagine. She seems very excited. [Good!] She thought as she looked at the colorful stores. [I'll need some parties to spice me up a little after all the loneliness in the lost woods.] She walked in to the toy store, feeling like buying everything in the store.  
  
Syaoran and Chocy sat at the steps nearby. "Why do you think all girls like to shop?" He asked Chocy. [They hate carrying all this money I suppose...] Chocy thought. They're both very exhausted from all the walking. Only Sakura would be energetic enough to go through every stores at this time.  
  
Sakura came back, empty-handed; she smiled "Okay, let's go!! You boys must be tired." Syaoran blinked, "Did you buy anything at all?" Sakura giggled, "Of course not, not with our financial problem. We still have a long way to go till we reach the base of the missioners, how do we know that we won't go penny-less before we reach there?" She grabbed his arm, "I'm just looking around, now let's go!"  
  
Syaoran suddenly felt very warm inside of him. [She's different from the rest of the girls...] he thought, [That's why I like her...] He smiled to her as they walked off.  
  
A little boy wandered in the middle of the street, he looked around, feeling lost (maybe is because he is lost) and lonely, he accidentally bumped in to Sakura. She looked at him, and smiled "I'm sorry, are you okay?" She slightly glanced at the little boy, he's about the age of five, and had a lollipop in his hand. "Ahh...aah...." the boy seems a little shy. "Where are you parents?" Sakura asked. "Huron...no parents..."  
  
Sakura wiped the smile off her face, and kneeled down in front of him. "I'm sorry, umm, so your name is Huron, huh?" She asked gently. The little boy nodded. "I'm lost...I can't find Jowna..."  
  
"Jowna?"  
  
"Huron's big sis."  
  
"Oh, okay, we'll help you find her." Sakura tried to pick him up, but he was too heavy for her. Someone grabbed Huron from the back. "Yo, you got an address, kiddo?" It was Syaoran, giving him a piggyback ride. "Who are you?" Huron asked. "Why, I'm the protector of the lost children, are you lost?" Syaoran joked.  
  
"Yes!!" the kid nodded wildly, "Will you help me find Jowna?"  
  
"Well if you're lost, I'll bring you to her, do you know where you live?"  
  
"Umm, no, but Jowna says if me lost, me give this to whoever ask me where do I live." Huron handed a little slip to Syaoran, Syaoran glanced at the slip,"397 Eero St. , no problem, I'll escort you home!"  
  
"Yeah~!" the little boy cheered. Sakura looked at them softly, [He's very sweet...] she thought. They walked off, then he turned back to Sakura, "Any idea on how to get there?" he asked. She laughed.  
  
~~~~~  
  
They asked people for direction, then they finally arrived at the kid's house, they knocked on the door. A 16-year-old lady opened the door. She has a headband tied on her head, her hair was brownish but also golden. "May I help you?" she asked.  
  
"Umm...hi...I..." Sakura felt very awkward talking to a stranger. "We're from the lost and found, lost a little brother?" Syaoran picked it up for her. "Sis~~!!" the kid jumped out of Syaoran's arms. "Huron!!" the lady picked up her little brother and gave him a big hug. "Don't you ever scare me like that..."  
  
She looked at Sakura and the others, and bowled. "Thank you for bringing him back, would you like to come in and have a cup of tea?"  
  
"No thanks," Sakura said, "we'll have to move on."  
  
"Then maybe I can have your address and so on, so that I can send you a gift or so."  
  
"That wouldn't be necessary, we're travelers, we don't stay at a certain place for too long."  
  
"Then why don't you stay for the night? It's going to be very hard to find a hotel room at this time of year."  
  
"Why?" Sakura asked. "What about this time of year that makes it so special?"  
  
"You don't know? It's the star fairy festival; we all celebrate this time of year. Tonight is the star fairy night, every year this time the sky would fill with beautiful stars."  
  
[So that was why the street was so crowded.] Sakura thought. "I can understand the meaning of the day, but why star fairy night, why not star night?"  
  
"It goes back a long way, why don't you come in and I'll explain it to you?"  
  
[Well, we could save the hotel money...] "Okay, we'll stay!" Sakura answered.  
  
~~~~~  
  
They went inside the house, the house was small, but neat and cozy. They were surrounding the dining table, drinking tea, as Jowna began to explain:  
  
"There's a legend about this day, long ago, there was a beautiful lady that knows magic power. She knows how to control the power of light, but because of that, many people called her a witch, she was a poor little girl who always got picked on by the other kids, she was an orphan, so no one really cared about her, she was a lonely little girl...  
  
One day, as usual, she was getting picked on, a handsome young man came to save her, and she was touched. They quickly became friends, the only one she had got. She knew that he doesn't know her ability, so she kept it away from him, she doesn't want to lose him.  
  
But the secret can't be kept away forever, the young man overheard one of the other kids teasing, he asked her about it, and she told him the truth. But the young man didn't mind at all, so they fell in love, and live happily for a period of time.  
  
But the happy days were short, one day, an evil magician had cover the sky with darkness, the sun used to be up all the time, but now the world is filled with darkness. The lady and the young man fought with their lives, and the power of love had defeated the power of darkness. Although the magician was defeated, the sky remained dark. But they were both badly wounded, they didn't have much time to live. At the moment of their death, they united with the spirit of light, and filled the sky with stars. They flew to the heavens and became the guardians of stars.  
  
So everytime this year we would honor this couple and their love."  
  
"Wow..." Sakura said, "It's very touching...this is a very nice story~"  
  
[Corny...I hate it...] Syaoran thought.  
  
"Oh! That reminds me!! I'm suppose to rehearse for the play today!!" Jowna suddenly stood up. "I'm the director of this year's play: The Star Fairy's Story." she said proudly.  
  
"That must be interesting!!" Sakura seems excited enough. "Can I come and watch you rehearse? I won't disturb you...please..."  
  
"Alright, you can come."  
  
"Weee...." Sakura cheered.  
  
"Oh brother..." Syaoran sighed.  
  
~~~~~  
  
They reached a huge theatre, it was all lid up with bright lights. [Typical,] Syaoran said. [They don't have very good transportation, they dress very old fashioned, but they have high tech tools...] People were running around, moving props. One of the workers came running towards Jowna, he seems nervous. "Jowna" He cried out loud. "We have a problem."  
  
The worker tried to catch his breath, then he began. "It's the main actor and actress, they were hurt, and won't be able to perform tonight!!"  
  
"What!?" Jowna cried out, "But they are the stars of the show, they have to be here!! The show can't go on with out them!! Is their injuries serious, can they perform with those injuries?"  
  
"I'm afraid that is not possible, one of them was fell from the 3rd floor and the other was hit by a chocobo carriage."  
  
Jowna bit her lip, the show must go on, but without the star of the show...  
  
Something hit her; she scanned the place looking for the right people. Her view stopped in front of Sakura and Syaoran, who were looking over the props and the costumes, she point out her finger, and cried, "You will sub for them!!" Sakura and Syaoran still didn't know what's going on.  
  
~~~~~  
  
"Whaaaaaat??" Syaoran yelled.  
  
"Please~ you guys are my only hope on this play, you're about the same age, height, and appearance compare to the stars of the show. They couldn't make it due to some sort of accident... so please, please say yes..."  
  
Well, Jowna is kind of their friend, and helping her would be the right thing to do, plus she did let them stay at her house, so the reasonable answer would be...  
  
"NO." Syaoran said.  
  
"No?" Jowna said, surprised by the answer.  
  
"He has something against plays..." Sakura backed him up. She's right, after "The Sleeping Beauty" play, he'd never, ever do another play again. For those of you who didn't read it, it happed in "CCS" issued no.4, Sakura's class was doing a Christmas play on a topic that has completely nothing to do with Christmas ---- "The Sleeping Beauty". Because the rolls were drawn, the beauty doesn't exactly have to be a girl. Unluckily, (well, to Syaoran anyway) Syaoran was the chosen one ---- the princess. That was the bad news, the good news was, the one who had to kiss (only on the cheek) and wake him up was Sakura. After making a complete fool out of himself, he pretty much decided NOT to attend any theatre company AT ALL.  
  
But this is different, he might not end up being the princess, or fairy, in this case. "Not even when you're the fairy's lover??" Sakura asked with a soft voice, she wants to help Jowna; she'll try her best to convince him. "I can be the fairy!!" Sakura said to Jowna. [Wait a minute...] Syaoran thought, [If she's the fairy, and I'm the fairy's lover...that would make me...the fairy's...lover!! That also means that I'm going to experience what it's like to be her boyfriend!!!] He paused. [Wait, will that be a good idea?]  
  
"Alright..." he said, unwillingly, "I'll do it..." [That'll make Sakura happy.] "Yeah~~" Sakura cheered.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Syaoran put on his costume; it looks more modern and cooler than the one Shi Shi gave him. [Shi Shi is so cheap...] he thought. The costume comes with a utility belt that goes from his right shoulder to his left waist. Good for his charms. He liked this costume, there's another belt around his waist that can hold his sward. He looked like a warrior, ready for battle. This looks like one of Tomoyo's costumes..." Sakura whined as she changed into her costume. "Syaoran..." She popped her head out of the changing room curtain. "Do I look weird in this costume...tell the truth!" She walked out of the curtain. She looked like one of the local girls, but more...beautiful. "Well...?" She asked. "Do I look weird...?"  
  
Syaoran was too impressed to say anything. All he came up with is... "It's...nice..." [That's the best thing I can think of~~!!!!!?] He doubted himself. "Well," Sakura looked down at her dress. "As long as it's not weird...I trust you, Syaoran!!" She looked up to him with a face.  
  
The play was beginning, thousands of people gathered outside the theatre, waiting to get in to watch the play. They were all very excited. It was just like the play in Sakura's school, but with more people. Jowna was up at the control room, getting organized. She was supposed to be the narrator when the show starts. She organized the skits, and tested out the microphone. Everything is in place, all she worried about was the actors, of course, Sakura and Syaoran never had the time to remember the lines, so Jowna is just going to read the line through another microphone that is connected to an ear phone in each of their ears. "Testing, testing...you guys hear me?" She said through the microphone. "If you do, wave at me." Jowna could see them through the big window. They look so small from Jowna's view; they looked around, searching for the control room. Since they don't have a microphone on them to speak to her, all they can do is wave or do some sort of action to indicate that they can hear her. "Up here, behind you...little more...that's right, now look to your left, no, not you Syaoran, Sakura! Yeah, hey! Sakura, I guess you can hear me! Syaoran, I'm here, more to the right...more...that's it! Hi!" Syaoran kind of waved, then turned around again. "I'm coming down!" Jowna said. "Wait for me in the coffee room. Over and out!" She ran away from the control panel, and ran down the stairs, jumping three steps at a time, running towards the coffee room. "Come on, Huron!" She said, picking him up in the hallway.  
  
They met in the coffee room. Jowna placed Huron on the chair, and walked towards the counter. "You want coffee?" she asked. Puring a cup for herself, "Huron wants milk~" Huron whined. "What about you?" Jowna looked at Sakura and Syaoran, "Hot cocoa please." Sakura said. "I'll take a glass of water." Syaoran said. "Thanks again you guys, you're a life saver! I've donated my whole life into this play, if anything goes wrong, I'll never forgive myself. Our family wanted to host the play for a very long time already. I'm so glad that I fulfilled their dreams." Whenever she talks about the play, her face lightens up. "It was ashamed that those actors and actresses got hurt right before the play..."  
  
[Right before the play?] Syaoran thought.  
  
"I don't know what's with our play this year, we kept having accidence during rehearsals, lights falling off, actors getting hit by chocobos, actresses getting bit by trees..."  
  
[Getting bit by trees?] Syaoran and Sakura thought. Staring curiously at Jowna. [Ometin trees bite?] they pictured a tree chasing them off a cliff.  
  
Jowna saw their looks, she responded. "Trees, it's the name of Mr. Groubre's dog."  
  
"Ooohhhh..." they both exclaimed.  
  
"How was it possible that they all got hurt right before the play?" Jowna said. "You don't know how helpful you've been...thank you...but do you think you can handle it?"  
  
"No problem!!" Sakura said, drinking her hot cocoa. "Owww!" she cried. "What is it?" Syaoran jumped up, worried. "It's too hot...I burnt my tongue..."  
  
"Silly...here drink this to cool it off." He handed her a glass of water. She took it and drank a mouthful. "Feeling better?" He asked. "Yeah..." Sakura replied. Jowna watch them as she smiled. "What's so funny?" Sakura asked.  
  
"Well," she began. "It's just that you guy seem to care a lot for each other, it's like...the star fairy and her lover." Both of their face turned red and they stared at each other, Syaoran sat down nervously. "You guys are so cute!!" Jowna exclaimed. "Jowna!!" Someone called at the door. "We need you out here!!"  
  
"Coming~~!!" Then she left the room. Leaving Sakura and Syaoran in the room, speechless. [Syaoran for a boyfriend? I never thought about that...] Sakura thought. [But then again...it isn't that why I agreed to go on a date with him?] She can't settle her mind; just then, Syaoran interrupted her thought. "Sakura...I think...well...maybe that, if you forget what Jowna said...um..." [I'm sooooooooo bad at this...] "But...if you would consider that issue...when...I think that..."  
  
"Syaoran~~!!!! Play with me!!!" Huron shouted. (Oh yes, Huron was also in the room, did I forgot to tell you that?) He jumped on Syaoran's back; Syaoran was totally freaked out by that. [Just when I was about to tell her...] Syaoran thought. "Fine...what do you want to play?"  
  
"Piggy ride! Piggy ride!"  
  
[What was he about to say?] Sakura thought. [If only Huron hadn't interrupted...oh wait, I've got to feed Chocy!! It's been standing out there all afternoon~!!] Then she ran out of the room too.  
  
To be continued...  
  
This is the first official "to be continued" ever! I can't believe I wrote so much!! I thought I can have the whole thing under one chapter but it's getting too long! If I finish the other half it'll be too long, that you'll just look at it and don't feel like reading!! Well, the other half is coming, so come back again!!Oh, yes, the costume they have for the Star Fairy show in this chapter is what they'll wear from now on, what do you think?  
  
Well, never the less, send me what you think~~!!!  
  
Piggy Ho Ho 


	7. Wasn't it all a Dream? If so where's Sya...

It's heaven! Chapter 7!

~~~~~

_"I'll fight till the end for the sake of your safety..."_

**CCS: THE LEGEND OF OMETIN**

Chapter 7

~~~~~

As Sakura and Syaoran kept traveling south for the missioner's base, the came across a teahouse in the middle of the road beside a big farm. They thought that it'd be a nice idea to have a snack before going on. They went in to the teahouse. Syaoran scanned the menu, and pick the food that sounds edible (since they use Ometin names). Chocy rested at a small stable that's beside the teahouse. The snacks they have were like a rice cake, but it's purple, and tasted different. Sakura sighed as she ate. "It tasted like the snacks that my dad used to give my when came back from school. I missed dad so much. He must be worried. How long has it been since we came to Ometin?" She asked.

"Not too long," Syaoran answered, while munching down his snacks. "About three weeks."

"Only three weeks? How long do you think we have to stay in this world?"

"I don't know, till we kill that stupid devil, I guess."

"Hoeeeee..." She sighed again, pushed the snacks aside, and turned away. Syaoran picked it up, and brought it near her mouth. "It's normal to be home sick, especially when you can't even contact them to tell them you're okay. But stop eating won't help. You'll only starve yourself; even if you get back you dad won't recognize you because you've become so thin."

Sakura laughed, and ate the snack. She looked at the sky, remembering how she call Tomoyo to go to a picnic at the penguin park at a sunny Saturday, and how Kero-chan wined about not inviting him. She missed the weekends when she used to go shopping with all her friends, weekdays when she roller blade to school, she even missed the way her older brother call her "monster". She really missed her home.

Syaoran could only feel sorry for her, there's nothing he could do, they're here now, and they can' t go back unless they've captured enough missioners' souls. Well, there is one thing he could do...

"Let's get going." He said. Sakura looked at him. "Hoe?" Syaoran went to get Chocy. He turned around to face her. "The sooner we get there, the sooner we get to go home, isn't that what you want?"

"Yes...but..." He was right, she wanted to go home, but on the other hand, she enjoyed the adventure they're having, they met Shi Shi, Ami, Leo, Len, and a bunch of other friends, most of all, Chocy. She liked the feeling of going around and helps people. "It's okay, Syaoran, I'm okay."

"You sure?"

"Absolutely! By the way, I haven't finished these delicious snacks yet! They taste so good!" Sakura replied, but she knew that she was trying to make Syaoran feels better. They're in this together; she didn't want to be selfish. They sat and finished their snacks. [But still...] Sakura thought.

~~~~~

After finished eating, they headed on to a road in between a huge lake and a small wood with trees no taller then Touya's height. They walked slowly in the sun, when they came near one of the taller trees, they realized that there's a sigh on it. "Caution, dangerous creature a head." Syaoran stopped Chocy as he read it. "That's weird."

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked at the back.

"They're saying there's monsters a head.

Sakura gave him a worried look. "You...don't suppose it's one of THEM, do you?"

"I don't know. But since we have to pass this road to get to the base, I figure that we have to go check it out. Keep going, Chocy." They moved on, Sakura shivered, and wrapped her arms around Syaoran's waist. Syaoran slightly blushed, and smiled.

The trees seem to get taller as they go. The atmosphere seems to get creepier, the farther they walked, the darker it gets. They swallowed at they moved on.

"See, Sakura, there's nothing." Syaoran said, but there was tension in his voice.

A creature suddenly emerged from the lake, it was at least three meters high, a mouth with sharp hundreds of sharp teeth, two eyes at each sides, a have more than twenty arms that are thin and squiggly. They all screamed as it lifted one of its arms, and tried to attack. Chocy jumped, and they were saved. Syaoran jumped off Chocy, and took out his sword from his waist. He stroke back, and it cut off one of its arms, it backed up.

The monster's eyes began to grow; it grew so bright, that it became a laser attack. It headed for Sakura. "Watch out!!" Syaoran cried. He jumped, and stabbed the sword right on it head. Just in time to miss Sakura. The creature went down the lake, creating a huge splash. Syaoran breathed quickly, he leaned back at a tree. "That wasn't so hard..." he commended. Sakura ran towards him. "Are you okay?"

But the trouble wasn't over; the creature slowly roused from the water, and gave out another laser attack. It hit Sakura.

"Noooo!!!!" Syaoran cried. Sakura saw the laser surrounded her, it looks like the swirl of light that brought her to Ometin, she saw Syaoran reaching out to her, but he suddenly became so far away. She tried to reach back, but the swirl of light covered her vision, she couldn't see anything but bright light. She closed her eyes.

[Why is this happening to me?]

[Why do I have to be here?]

[I wish I were home...where dad, Touya, Tomoyo, Yukito and everyone else are...]

When she opened her eyes again, she was surprised to find a familiar checker pattern. She looked closely, [It's my bedroom's ceiling!] She got up, and found out that she was in her own room!!

"What happened...? Am I...home? I'm home!!! It was just a dream!!" Still, she found that a little weird, the whole things seem so real, the fight, the hot spring hotel, the food. But now she's here, sleeping in her own bed, it was just a dream!!

"Oh...thank god~!" She exclaimed. Kero-chan slowly woke up beside her. "What...what's the problem...?"

Sakura hugged him so tight, he couldn't breath. "You have no idea!! I dreamed that I was in another world, and couldn't get back, but I'm home!! I'm really home!!"

"It's okay Sakura!! It's just a dream!! Not even _I_ think it meant anything!!! Now will you please let me go??" Sakura let go, and he tried to catch his breath. [I'm home! I'm really home!"] She thought. ~~~~~

"Hi! Dad!" she came down to have her breakfast. "Mmmm...Breakfast smells great." She smiled brightly. "Boy, you look happy today!" her dad said. "What's the matter?" Sakura shook her head. "Oh...nothing..."

"Oh, it's the monster, how unusual, you actually woke up early today!" Touya came down with an insult. Sakura stared at him, and stomped him right on his left toe. Sakura smiled again, though it was just a long night of dream, Sakura felt like she hadn't been home for a long time. This scene really feels warm.

~~~~~

"Good morning everyone!!" Sakura said when she was at school.

"Hello, Sakura-san, you're not late today!" Tomoyo smiled to her, and joked. "You're always this energetic!"

"Yup! I feel especially energetic today, how about shopping after school?" Sakura offered.

"That'd be great!" Tomoyo agreed. Then, the teacher came in. "Alright everyone, back to your seats!" Every thing seems normal and like they used to. Sakura was sure glad to be out of that terrible nightmare, this is where she should be, where everything is.

Everything...except...

"Li-kun's not here?" The teacher said when he did roll call. The words darken her day like a battle of ink. [What...? How come I feel so weird? Like I forgot something?] She tried to think. [Oh...I know, it's the entire dream thing. I dreamt that we were in a different world, I probably thought that he's not back from that dream world yet...silly me...]

But still, it didn't feel right...

~~~~~

After school, the two girls went shopping like they promised. Sakura couldn't keep her mind on the merchandises in the stores. [I wonder will Syaoran be okay...I mean, even thought he's not in another world, he could be sick, that's probably why he's absented today.] She wandered in a medical store instead. "Yes, I want something for a person who's...well, sick, you have anything that would make him feel better?" The storeowner gave she a bag of tea, and gave her the instruction to drink it. She bought it, and went to Tomoyo, who was in a stuffed animal shop. "I'm sorry, Tomoyo-san, but I have to go."

Tomoyo smiled gently, "You're going to see Li-kun aren't you?"

Sakura lowered her head and nodded. "I'm so sorry~" She repeated. Tomoyo laugh, and said. "It's okay, you're free to go." Sakura wave her good bye, and head off to Syaoran's apartment.

~~~~~

When she arrived at his apartment, she pressed on the doorbell, she could hear the ring of the bell. She waited. No one was home. "That's weird," Sakura said. She rang the doorbell again. But still, no one answered. [He's not home? Then where could he be?] She thought of the dream, then shook her head wildly, "Couldn't happen, it was only a dream!"

~~~~~

At home, Sakura tried to do her homework, but couldn't concentrate. She was very worry about Syaoran. [Where could he be?] She looked at the clock, it read nine thirty-two. [He should've been home by now...] She took the phone, and called him. It rang for 3 rings, then the message machine went on, "This is Syaoran, I'm not home right now, so please, leave a message after the beep." The machine made a beep sound, Sakura swallowed, and began to record her message, "Syaoran, where are you? How come you didn't come to school today? Well, anyway, call me when you got home, okay?" Then she hung up.

Unfortunately, he never called back.

~~~~~

Sakura was getting more worry as time passes. Syaoran had been absent for three days now, and whenever she calls or goes to his apartment, he was never there. [What if something happens to him?] The thought came into her mind.

It was time for P.E., Tomoyo tapped Sakura's shoulder to tell her to get change. Sakura went into the changing room with Tomoyo, she took off her top, and Tomoyo realized there's something on her neck. "That's a nice necklace, where'd you buy it? And the little cute bell too!" She commended. Sakura didn't know what was she talking about until she stared down at her necklace. [No...] She thought.

It was the same bell and necklace Syaoran bought for her in Ometin, it shines in the sun light like his smile. [It wasn't a dream! We _were_ in Ometin! And I came back! Oh my god! What about Syaoran? Is he still in Ometin? What if he didn't get back? What if something happened to him in Ometin? Oh, no...Syaoran!!!] She breathed quickly. Tomoyo asked, "What's wrong? Sakura?" Sakura looked at her, and yelled. "Tomoyo!! What am I going to do? Syaoran's in Ometin, he has to be!! He didn't make it back! I was the only one who came back...oh no...and Chocy, what happened to them?"

Tomoyo looked at her in confusion. "I...I don't understand, Sakura what are you talking about?"

Sakura burst into tears.

~~~~~

After school, Sakura ran into her room and buried herself in her blankets. She sobbed, [Why...why am I the only one who came back? Why did I ever wished to come back?] Then it hit her. [Wish...my wish came true?] She remembered she made a wish when the lights surrounded her. "_ I wish I were home...where dad, Touya, Tomoyo, Yukito and everyone else are..._"

[Dad, Touya, Tomoyo, and Yukito...I didn't mention a word about Syaoran!! That's why I came back to the world, where dad, Touya, Tomoyo, and Yukito are!! But no Syaoran!! I...I need to go back! I must!! I can't just leave Syaoran there! I need to go back!!] She opened her bell, trying to get the Ometin Crystal that brought her to Ometin, but it was empty. [No wonder it didn't ring for the whole time when I was in Japan...] She felt hopeless, she's here, and Syaoran's in Ometin. She didn't know what to do. [Am I going to live like this for the rest of my life? No Syaoran? That's it?] She cried again, thinking about Syaoran, his face, his voice, his smile, the way his hugs warm her inside-out, and the way he calls her silly every time she feels sad. She missed him, and she can't stand a life with out him.

Yukito went into her room. "Sakura? Are you okay?"

"Yukito..." Sakura got up, trying to dry her tears.

"I came to see Touya, and he said you were feeling low. Are you okay?"

"Yeah...(sob) I'm fine."

"Do you want to go to the park? When I feel said I always pack a box of snack and go for a picnic."

[Park...] Idea hit her, the park was where everything started, maybe if she goes to the park, she can find the crystal, and go back to Ometin, or at least find some clues about it.

"Sure...I'd love to go!!" Yukito went down stairs to pack his box of snacks, "Never mind about the snack, let's go, Yukito!!" She cried. "We'll try to be back before dinner, Big-Bro!"

~~~~~

Sakura serched every single corner of the park and still couldn't find anything, not even a clue about Ometin. She tried the washroom where she found the crystal, but there's nothing, the crystal wasn't there anymore. She gave up and collapsed on a bench. Yukito sat beside her, still munching snacks. "What's wrong? What are you trying to find?"

"A lot of things...but they're all gone...all of them..." She began to cry again.

Yukito smoothed her back. "Can you tell me about it?"

"...it's weird, it's really weird...can you just hear about it, and don't ask any questions?"

"Sure."

She began. "I was in another world with Syaoran, we were suppose to be in the fighting missioners thing together, but after I stayed there for a long time, I started to miss my home. Then all of the sudden, I was back, I don't know why, I wasn't suppose to be back till I've capture enough souls, it's probably something that lake monster did. When that light hit me, all I wanted was to go home, and I did. But what's the point of coming back when Syaoran's still there? He was always there for me; we got in and out of trouble together. Syaoran, Chocy and I are a team! We worked together! But now...but now..."

She couldn't go on, and cried. Yukito was _really_ confused now. "Okay...um...I don't know what to say."

Sakura kept crying, [I...I wish I was back...back in Ometin, with Chocy, and Syaoran...I...] "I wish I can go back!!" She said. Then her bell started to glow, the way the Ometin crystal did when she was brought to there. In Ometin...

"What?" Yukito covered his eyes; it was too bright for him.

[What...?] The light surrounded her, and she saw Yukito became farther and farther, and vision is blocked by the light. "Syaoran...?" She whispered.

She was going back.

"Syaoran...I'm...I'm coming! I'm finally coming back!"

~~~~~

Sakura opened her eyes; a lady came into her view. "You're finally awake." The lady said.

Sakura got up, and saw Syaoran and Chocy sleeping beside her bed. "Syao..."

"Shh..." the lady shushed her, "Don't wake them."

[I'm back, I'm really back!!] Sakura thought. "Umm..." she began, quietly. "What happened?"

The lady smiled. "Those two haven't slept for three days, my boy friend and I wasted a lot of energy to get them to sleep. Oh, allow me to introduce myself. I'm Coly, this is the Ometin lake village. We really shouldn't thank you boy friend here for destroying the lake's monster, now we can fish again!"

Sakura tilted her head, still wondering what was going on. "Well," Coly continued. "Three days ago, you boy friend here carried you on his Chocobo's back to this village, he had some sort of emergency, you were sleeping like a baby when they carried you here."

[I was asleep? So _that_ was a dream?? I didn't really go home?]

"I let him stayed at my house since he destroyed the monster. He put you on the bed, and took cared of you all of that night. Our loco doctor found out that you were hurt from the monster's laser attack; he told Syaoran that these attacks would make people's wish come true, but only in dreams, so ones who were attacked will never get up." [So that's why...my wish came true...in dream!] Sakura thought.

"The only way for a person to wake up," Coly went on. "Was by a magic potion, made by a rare kind of plant, or, if the person wish to come back herself." Sakura gasped. "Of cause," Coly went a head. "Everyone was having such a nice dream that no one would want to wake up, well, except for you, though. So your boy friend here started to search for the rare plant that is used to make the potion."

"He didn't find it?" Sakura asked, smoothing Syaoran's hair.

"No, he found it."

"Hoe?"

"He got scratches all over him, but he found it. He probably got his way through some thorns. He came back, didn't bother to treat his wounds, he told the physician to make the potion right away, but..." Colty took a deep breath. "When we tried to give you the potion so Syaoran can finally stop exhausting himself, he told us _not_ to give you the potion."

"What?" Sakura asked. "Why?"

"He said you're probably having a really nice dream, doing things you can't possibly do in the real world, he said to let you dream a bit longer. He was by you side all the time, and so is this little Chocobo, fixing your pillow, wiping you sweat, it was just an hour ago when I finally got him to have some rest."

"Syaoran..." Sakura whispered. She looked at him, and tears came down from her face. She wiped her tears, and looked at Coly. "Can you do me a favor?"

~~~~~

Syaoran slowly woke up. He realized Sakura wasn't on the bed anymore. He looked around; Chocy was still sleeping beside him. "Sakura?" he said. Then Sakura came through the door with a smile. "You call me?" Syaoran looked up, his face lid up. "Sakura! You're awake!!" Then he looked at Coly. "Did you give her the potion while I was asleep?"

Coly put her finger to her lip. "Oh...I had nothing to do with it."

"I just...woke up." Sakura said. "And...thank you...for all the things you've done for me..." Syaoran blushed. "You don't have to thank me, silly." Sakura hugged him; he hesitated, and then hugged back. "Don't you ever do that again, you hear me?" he said. Sakura nodded.

They let go, and Sakura said. "And, to thank you, I told Coly to teach me how to cook Ometin food. I'll cook you a nice big meal!!"

"Can I trust your skills?" Syaoran said. Sakura looked at him madly, and rose up her hand, ready to hit. "Okay, I was just joking, I'll eat every single drop, even if it taste bad."

They all laughed, then Chocy woke up, when he saw Sakura, he went berserk, and buried his head in Sakura's chest. "Oh...it's okay now Chocy..." Sakura said.

~~~~~

After the meal, Sakura finished washing the dishes with Coly, had a bath, and was getting to bed. Syaoran was already inside; he turned around when he heard she came in. "Sakura, um, here, you can sleep on the bed." Sakura blushed, and said. "Well, I was thinking. We're going to be having this kind of situation a lot if we have to travel together. So...I think it's time that we, you know, get use to sleeping together, in one bed."

There was a long pause, then Syaoran finally broke the silence, "You...you mean sleeping together?? In one bed??" His face was redder then usual. "Um...that's what I said." Sakura replied.

She climbed on the bed, and looked at Syaoran, he froze, and then sat on the bed, he didn't dare to climb on. Sakura gave him the puppy face again. "Come on~" He got on the bed, his motion was very stiffed.

Well, there they are, together on one bed. (Quite far away though) Both of their heartbeats went crazy. Syaoran tried to talk, to make the situation less tense. He tried to think of a question. Then he remembered, the thing that had been bothering him all day. "Sakura...?" He said. "Why did you wake up in from the dream? Didn't you get your wish? Wasn't that dream nice?"

Sakura suddenly felt calm, and relaxed. She moved closer to Syaoran, and answered. "I've had better." Both of them smiled, and went to sleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Well, what do you think about the bed thing? Is it too soon? Tell me the truth!!!

Write to me about what do you think of the story, okay??

Next! Coly have trouble marrying her boy friend, and to solve the problem, Sakura and Syaoran have to get marry!!!

Piggy Ho Ho

March 8, 2000


	8. Wedding Troubles & Syaoran and Sakura as...

Great, chapter 8!

~~~~~

_"I'll fight till the end for the sake of your safety..."_

**CCS: THE LEGEND OF OMETIN**

Chapter 8

~~~~~

Coly quietly opened the door to Sakura's room, she found them sleeping peacefully on the bed, and smiled to herself. Her boyfriend came along, and watched her as she smiled like a silly dog. He tilted his head. "What so funny?"

Coly turned to him, "Oh, no, it's just that, look at them, they are an adorable pair! And just look at the way Syaoran cared about Sakura when she was injured...Giphis, will you do that for me if I was injured?"

Giphis's voice became tense from his embarrassment. "Of...of course!! If I were him, I wouldn't even let that stupid lake monster touch you! I...." Coly put her finger to her mouth. "Shh...they're still asleep, I don't want to wake them, keep it down."

"Ahh....yeah..." Giphis' face turned red, he shifted his feet around, feeling uncomfortable. "Hmm?What's wrong?" Coly asked. "Um...ahhh..." Giphis became more nervous as Coly stared at him with her shining pink eyes, mixed with confusion. "I...you...um...WILL YOU MARRY ME!!" He finally screamed the words out.

The door opened with Sakura and Syaoran sleepily asked, "What? Huh? Who screamed??" Coly practically ignored them, her face turned red, matching her pink eyes. She took a deep breath, and said. "I will, I'll...do it! I'll marry you!" She hugged Giphis tightly before she even finished her sentence. "Huh...?" Sakura and Syaoran both exchanged looks.

~~~~~

The next day, Coly and Giphis were busy organizing their wedding, Sakura and Syaoran decided that they were nice enough to let them stay at their house till their wedding, so they helped out on planning their wedding.

It was a busy day for all of them, they divided into two teams, the girls' team, and the boys' team. The girls went to look at wedding dresses(that took them half a day), and bought decorations. The boys got stuck with all the hard works. They bought and wrote all of the invitations, looked for chocobo chariots, found a decent pope to carry out their wedding, and made plans for their honeymoon. When the day's over, they all had a very simple meal, and dived right into bed. According to the customs of their village, man and wife aren't suppose to sleep in one bed until they're married, so Coly slept in her own room, and Sakura joined her. Syaoran however, showed a sigh of both disappointment and relief when he found out that Sakura didn't have to sleep with him for the night. But he does have to sleep in Giphis' room. Giphis was nice enough to let him sleep on the bed, and he will sleep on the floor himself.

Giphis and Syaoran had a guy to guy talk before they fell asleep. "In just a few days, I will no longer be an unwedded bachelor." Giphis sighed. "The things I do for my love one..."

"Well, aren't you happy that she's living with you for the rest of you life?" Syaoran asked.

"...I guess so...but...there's so much to do when you're single."

"What??"

"You're still young, you'll learn."

"Ahh...."

~~~~~

They next morning came quickly. Coly woke up, feeling happy that she'll be a bride tomorrow, she got up, and shook Sakura gently, "Rise and shine, sleeping beauty." Sakura twisted, and wrapped herself in the blanket. Then she slowly got up. "We still have a lot to do for my wedding." Coly whispered.

Sakura got dress, as Coly went to opened the curtain. She gently slides the silky fabric over aside, and bright light shine through the window, but the light was reddish. Coly looked at the window. She was shocked by what she saw.

"AAAAAAAAHH~~~!!!!!!!!!!!" She screamed. Sakura turned to her direction, and she too, screamed. "OH MY~~SYAORAN~~!!!!!!!!!!!"

The boys rushed to their room to see what the screams were all about. Syaoran came in, and saw Sakura sitting on the floor, shaking. He kneeled down to hold her hand. "What's the matter?" He asked nervously. Sakura was still staring at the window, she pointed to it. Syaoran gasped when he saw what's on the window.

It was a message written in blood, the letters were big and strong, it looked like there's been a murder in the room. The message read: I WON'T LET YOU GET MARRY, I LOVE YOU MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE IN THE WORLD!

They all remained in their positions for a whole minute, staring at the message. Syaoran finally broke the silence. "Who...who did that?" No one knew the answer. They just watched in fear. Obviously, someone's still trying to get Coly.

~~~~~

The rest of the day was uneasy. Everyone was worrying about that blood message, especially Coly. Giphis hugged her to calm her down. "Don't worry," He whispered. "I won't let anything get to you."

It was very uneasy for Sakura and Syaoran too, seeing them like that. They continued the decoration, and took care of some final business. Coly and Giphis' friends came to visit and congratulate them on their marriage. Coly told all of her friends to have a seat as she hang up some of the bigger decorations, but all of their friends insisted on helping her out. They chat as they worked. "Hey, Coly, Giphis is so nice isn't he, oh, you're so lucky~! I wish I have a husband like you. Jack is such an insensitive man!" One of the girls said. "Oh, Tracy, you're lucky enough to have Jack, I couldn't even find a decent guy, that's it, I'm bound to die alone." Another girl recalled. "Oh, don't worry, Susie, you still got us, we'll be there, always." Then they all hugged.

"But..." Coly said. "I still don't have the best guy..." Coly looked at Sakura. "Oh yeah!" Tracy said. "Sakura's boyfriend is the best, isn't it??"

"Hoe??" Sakura blushed. "I..."

"Syaoran is such a sweet guy, just look at the way he tried to wake you when you were hurt by the monster!!"

"I know! It's like, totally cool!!"

"What!?" Sakura replied. "He's not my boyfriend."

"Oh, please. By the looks of you two, even though you're not a couple now, you're bound to be sooner or later!"

"Hoe~! You gals pick on me...I'm getting out of here!" Sakura said as she leaves room.

~~~~~

That night, the boys had a major party at a local bar to celebrate Giphis' last night of being a bachelor. They drank beer and wine, anything that contains alcohol. The whole bar was filled with noise and weird smell. Syaoran was suppose to be the designated Chocobo rider, so he sticked to plan old juice.(not old enough to drink anyway)

"Man~you sure have a lot of guts proposing, it'd be a million years before I propose to Tracy." One of the guys said. He sounds like he's going to pass out any minute. "What do you see in those women anyway...all they ever wanted is to get marry and have annoying little freaks running around the house. So, Giphis, are you marrying her to get the money?" "Don't you dare say that! I love Coly with all my hearts." Giphis' face was red, but he wasn't as drunk as the others.

"Hmm...it's gotta mean something...oh, I know, the old oven has a bun!!" A guy name Jerry yelled out. Syaoran could have sworn he'd seen him before, he looks so...familiar. Maybe he looks like that guy from the Japanese TV series "Love Generation", not the main guy, but his brother.

"No!!" Giphis yelled back. "Our love is totally pure, it's not what you think. Look, you guys will do the same thing for your girlfriend, if you think it's time. It's just that my time is a bit early, that's all." But the guys didn't care about his big talk, they just kept singing, and dancing on the counter table.

Giphis turned to Syaoran, the only one that hadn't said a thing all night long(means no insults), and the only one who wasn't drunk(means still acts normal). He sighed, and began to speak(means to talk drunkenly). "You're the only one who didn't comment on my marriage today, kid. You're the best. I appreciate that."

[I would, if I could, but I hardly ever know you...] Syaoran thought. "No biggy."

"I'm worried..." Giphis said.

"About what, what they said about women wants to have children??"

"Oh no, I don't worry about that, I love kids. I'm worrying about the note. You, know, the bloody one."

"It's just a prank, probably just a kid who had a crush on Coly, those might not even be real blood, it could be ketchup."

"What's ketchup?"

[Oops...no ketchup in Ometin...man, that means no fries either...]"I mean...red paint, yeah, that's it. It could be red paint or a red...colour...liquid...thingy."

"Oh, no, it was blood alright, it's got the smell, the bloody small. You know, one of those smell that smells like fish?"

[Oh yes...that's why I don't eat sushi...] "But it's just a prank. It might not mean anything. It's just your imagination."

"Yeah...I hope so too..."

~~~~~

The big day had come, Sakura helped Coly to dress up her wedding dress along with her friends, Tracy, Susie and Mina, the dress looks like one of those that Tomoyo designed. "Oh, Coly, you look so beautiful!!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Thank you, oh, I can't believe this is happening to me..." she said cheerfully. Her smile was brighter than ever. She had completely forgot about the bloody note one the window. The boys tried to wash it off yesterday, but there are still some stains that are left on the glass. But now, they are the least bits of Coly's worry.

The wedding took place at a loco church, it wasn't big, but big enough to hold all of Coly and Giphis' friend. After the groom kissed the bride, they head to the doorway.

Sakura and Syaoran didn't really dressed up for the wedding though, but they sure was happy to see how lovely they look in their wedding gowns. All they hope for now, is that nothing would happen.

Maybe they shouldn't have jinxed, seconds after they wish that nothing would happen, the huge cross hagging on the door way dropped inches in front of Giphis and Coly's nose. The cross's broken pieces scattered all over the church. Syaoran ran in front of them to check the cross. The string was cut, it was no accident. Both of they were so afraid that none of them move for the whole five minutes. Coly looked especially freaked out, she knew that it was part of her fault, _he_ wanted her, not Giphis.

The problem is, which _he_ are we talking about here?

~~~~~

Sakura, Syaoran, Coly and Giphis all sat in the living room, all of them were speechless. Coly was still in her wedding dress. "We still have to go to the honeymoon." Giphis said.

"When are you leaving?" Sakura asked him.

"Later tonight." he replied.

"What if you don't go to the honeymoon?" Syaoran asked. "It's way too dangerous to go out while that freak is still out there."

"No..." Coly said. "Our honeymoon is not just a trip of us going out of the town and spend time together. It's also a custom, something we're suppose to do as a couple in the village. If we don't go, it won't be a complete ceremony."

"Well, it's our problem, and we appreciate your caring, but it's getting late, you guys should get some sleep." Giphis said. He pushed them out of the living room.

Inside Sakura and Syaoran's room, Sakura looked at Syaoran with a pair of sad eyes. "Syaoran..."

[Just don't make eye contacts...(big sweat drop)] "You are _not_ going to get me into this again!" He said. "Didn't you hear them? It's their own business, and it would be way too dangerous for you to go."

"But..."

"No buts. Now you get some rest, I'll go out and check Chocy." He walked out of the room.

[I'm not going to give up that easily, even though it means that I have to go by myself, I'll still have to help them.]Sakura's thought was filled with evil plans again. [First, I'll create a disguise...] She pulled out her key and her card of mirror. "The hidden powers of light, I, Sakura, command you to return to your true form: RELEASE!!"

"MIRROR!!" The card turned into an identical twin Sakura. She told the mirror to just lay down on the bed, and pretend to be asleep, she knows how sensitive Syaoran can be, even the slightest movement can look suspicious to Syaoran.

She went to the living room and found Coly, sitting on the sofa alone. "Hey!" Sakura whispered. Coly was kind of surprised.

"Aren't you suppose to be in bed?" Coly whispered back.

"I won't be till your honey moon is over! I have thought of a plan to safe your marriage." She gave her a thumb up. "I will go out, dressed up as you, as a dummy. While the killer follows me out, you and Giphis then sneak out to enjoy your honey moon!"

"Huh...What? No! That's too dangerous!"

"Oh, you worry about your own safety, I'll be fine. After all, we killed the lake monster didn't we?" Sakura held Coly's hand. She was touched by her kindness.

"Fine, but even though you can go out as a dummy to fool the wacko, he wouldn't fall for it, because you're-too-small. You're not even half of my size!"

"I told you I have a plan, I heard this from Tracy, there's this some sort of drug that can make you grow up to your teenage size form for six hours, so if I take the dose, I'll be a teen! Which means your size!"

"I was afraid that you'll bring that up..."

"Hehe...don't worry, I'll be fine." Sakura patted her shoulder. "Just don't tell Syaoran, okay? He'll kill me if he knows that I did this."

~~~~~

Syaoran was feeding Chocy at the stable. "Wark..." Chocy purred(?).

Giphis came into the stable. "You still up?"

"Oh, just feeding Chocy." Syaoran stood up. "You worry?"

Giphis sighed. "How exactly would you feel if your wife is being chased by a killer?"

Syaoran smiled. "No one wants their love ones to be in danger. That's why Sakura's not going."

"Going where?"

"...I have a plan."

"...oh, yeah?"

"Unfortunately, I'll be filling in for you tonight."

"What?"

"I'll take one of those super growing thing that Jack told me about, once I expand into a teenager size, I'll go to your honey moon instead of you going. So when the killer comes to get me, you came sneak out with Coly. It's night time, the killer can't tell the difference."

"That's nice of you to offer, but it's too dangerous for you."

"I'll be alright, as long as you are." Syaoran smile. "But don't tell Sakura, she'll jump right into the idea."

"...Who are you kids anyway, first you kill the monster in the lake and now this?" Giphis asked with a smile.

"I'm just an ordinary traveler."

~~~~~

Giphis and Coly bumped into each other in the hall.

"Sakura told me that she'll go instead of me." She rushed.

"Syaoran, too, did they plan this together? But Syaoran told me not to tell..."

"So did Sakura, what do you think these twos are up to?"

"I don't know, but I'm not telling. If Sakura wants to keep it a secret, I won't tell Syaoran. Where's Sakura?"

"In my room, I'm dressing her up."

"Yeah, well me, too."

"Okay, see you." She went by him, and came back again, "...just a thought, but am I the only one that think that they're no ordinary kids?"

Giphis waved his hand, "You're not the only one!"

~~~~~

When everything's all set, Sakura went out of the house alone, and got on to the Chocobo chariot. Chocy was leading the chariot, and recognized Sakura right away, "Warkk..." Chocy called her, but Sakura put a finger on her mouth to indicate him to be quiet. Coly and Giphis weren't able to help her up, because if the psycho sees it, he'll know. Syaoran went to check Sakura before he got out on to the chariot. The mirror card was lying on the bed like Sakura ordered. Syaoran smiled, thought that it was the real Sakura, and quietly closed the door .

When Syaoran got on the chariot, he saw someone was already in there, he glanced at her, and knew right away that wasn't Coly. Then he remembered that Giphis said there would be someone filling in for Coly, too. So he got on, and pulled down the curtain behind him. He looked at the girl more carefully, she seems to be around 15~17 with long ,silky hair. She wasn't facing him, so he couldn't really tell what she looks like. "...Hi," she said, with a beautiful voice. "As you can tell, I'll filling in for Coly. My name is..."

"I don't care what your name is." he interrupted. "After this, we'll never see each other again, so let's just get it over with." He whistled to signal Chocy to start running, thinking how would Sakura feel, if she knows that he's spending time alone with another girl.

[Geese, he's mean...I was just trying to tell him what my name was...] Sakura thought. [I know we won't see each other again, but still...] She looked at him, his face became more visible, now that the moon came out behind the cloud. He looks like one of those popular dream hunks in high school. [...he sure looks cute...] her face began to blush, then she shook her head wildly to get the thought out of her mind. [He's probably right, it's better if we get to know the least about each other...what ever his name is.]

But they didn't know that someone hand been following them since they left.

~~~~~

They came to the route beside the lake, obviously they didn't know where there were going since they only wanted the psycho to show up. [Maybe we should have plan for a destination, at least then we won't seem so suspicious...] Syaoran thought, [I'm not even sure that he fell for it...]

Something exploded in front of Chocy, Chocy reacted fast enough to make an emergency stop, or else he would have become a fried Chocobo. "WARKKK!!!?"

[He fell for it, alright.] Syaoran thought, as he wiggled wildly in the cart. He lost his balance, and fell on top of Sakura, she yelled, as they both fell out of the cart.

For some reason, Sakura's heartbeat became faster. Her cheek was red, and she wasn't able to move under 'the-guy-that's-suppose-to-fill-in-for-Giphis'. They stayed like that for a moment, Syaoran's image suddenly popped out of her head. "You alright?" 'the guy' asked, getting up.

"I...I'm fine, please get off me...look, I already have someone in my mind, so, even though we're suppose to play a couple, I don't think we should make any more contacts." Sakura said.

"Well, good for you, but I'm also seeing someone, but I don't think we need to pretend any more." He said. Looking at the tree near them.

Sakura's voice became tensed. "You mean...he's here?" She looked at the direction he was looking, and saw a person standing on top of a tree.

That person jumped down, and slowly headed to them. "Well, I'd never thought that you'll have the guts to carry on with your wedding, even after I did all those stuffs." He said.

"Huh...?" Syaoran exclaimed. [I know that voice...] "Jerry?"

"That's right, Giphis, who would have thought? Your best friend, screwing up your own wedding, trying to steal your own wife. Well, here's something new to you, I never treated you like a friend. You were always in my way, Coly deserves better, she deserves me." His hand began to gather heat, and before they know it, he shot it at them in a form of a fireball. It missed them, and burned the cart they were sitting on.

"WARKKK!!WARK!!" Chocy cried for help since he was tied to the burning cart, "Chocy!!" Both Sakura and Syaoran cried. Then they looked at each other. "How'd you know its name?" They both asked.

[Um...HELLO!!!LITTLE HELP??] Chocy thought. "_WAAAAAAARRRRRRRKKKK!!!!!!!!"_ It screamed furiously. Sakura and Syaoran put their matter aside, and helped Chocy to get away from the fire.

Syaoran looked at Jerry. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but we're not the newly weds. You fell for it, you moron."

Under the light of you fire, it became more clear to Jerry that he's not Giphis. "You son of...you tricked me?" Now he's ever more mad, he ripped his shirt, gather more heat and fired at them. (Just like Kyo from KOF'99 ^^') "You won't live to see another day!"

They dodged the fireballs, but that's when Syaoran saw it: the tattoo, the sigh of the missions from hell. "You're not human..." Syaoran said.

"So what if I'm not..." He said.

"Oh!" Sakura reacted as if she thought of something. "You still haven't tell me why you know Chocy's name yet!!" She said as she turned to Syaoran. Jerry fell hard on the floor, and so did Chocy.

"I should be asking YOU, why do you know its name?"

"Well of course I know its name, I named it! It's my Chocobo!"

"No it isn't! It's my Chocobo! Me and my friend own..."

And that's when it (finally) hit them. "SAKURA!!??"

"SYAORAN??!!"

"I thought you're at home!"

"I thought YOU'RE at home!"

"How could you do this, you could have been killed!!"

"Well, you're not so great either, so you were thinking of coming without me all along, huh?"

"Hey!!" Jerry yelled. "Who's the boss around here!?"

Sakura pulled out her key and thunder card, and Syaoran pulled out his sword. They used their thunder attack at the same time. "Well, obviously not you!!" Syaoran yelled back.

"It's non-of your business!!" Sakura added.

"Ow..." Jerry wined as he fell to the floor.

"I'm not done yet, Sakura. How could you sneaked out after what I've told you?"

"You have to make me stay, while YOU'RE out here? You know what, I'm glad I came, I could have been fooled by you!!"

"It's all for your own good, look at this guy, he's one of the missioner from hell, just look at his tattoo!"

[They know about the tattoo?] Jerry thought.

"So what if he IS? I could have handle it, but no, you HAVE to make me stay home!"

[Then that means...] Jerry's eye widened.

"You couldn't have handle it yourself!"

[They're the legendary heroes!]

"Oh, now you don't have faith in me either?" A flying fireball that zoomed in between them interrupted Sakura's words. They both turned to Jerry's direction. He stood about ten meter away from them, and smoke was coming out of his hand.

"It's getting interesting..." He said, as his face hanged a wicked grin. "Not only that, you helped Coly and Giphis get away, you're also the one that killed my brother Terry..."

"Terry?? The one who pet abused Chocy?" Sakura exclaimed. (for those of you who don't know who Terry is, see Chapter two of the legend of Ometin)

"Hahaha...that gives me another reason to kill you. You make me lose Coly, you killed my brother, and worst of all..." He gathered up the heat again. "YOU IGNORED ME FOR YOUR STUPID ARGUMENT!!!!" He shouted as shot a humongous fire ball at them.

"Water!" Syaoran protected himself and Sakura, his anger had strengthened his fireball.[So that's why he seems familiar...] Syaoran thought.

"Hey!" Sakura yelled from behind Syaoran. "Is ignoring you is more important that killing your brother!?" Syaoran fell. Mixing with a big sweat drop.

"It's all about dignity." Jerry replied. "Anyway, you're supposed to die now." He shot another fire ball, Syaoran ducked, and took Sakura with him. They eyed each other. "It's going to take both of us to beat him." He said.

"...fine, we'll take care of our business later."

They stood up, now that they're teenagers, they looked stronger then before.

"FLY!" Sakura commanded the card, a pair of wings grew at her back. The wings flapped, and lifted her into the air.

She flew closer to Jerry, Jerry shot a few fire balls at her, but she smoothly dodged all of them. She took out two cards, the Windy and the Watery. [I used them to beat the Firey before, I hope this will work again.] She commanded. "Windy, Watery!"

The water tornado surrounded him, he couldn't see what's going on. He tried shooting the tornado, but the water burned out the flame, then Syaoran came splashing through the water, into the tornado eye, and stabbed him right on the tattoo.

His body evaporated, and his soul flew to the sky, Sakura was all prepare this time. She flew to the opening of the tornado(the top), and used the crystal in her necklace to trap the soul. Then she ordered the Windy and the Watery to return. She landed, and looked at Syaoran. Both of them blushed as they turned away.

"We...should be heading back now." He said.

"Yeah..." She said.

"Warkk..." Chocy purred.

~~~~~

They rode Chocy to get home, neither of them spoke for the whole ride. They remained silence, feeling guilty that they shouted at each other.

[Would you guys stop it?] Chocy thought. [You guys only had an argument, it's not like you've cheated on each other. What was that phrase again? Oh, yes, 'true love never runs smoothly', ever heard of that??]

"Um..." Syaoran tried to say something, but he ended with, "Never mind."

They were walking the route beside the lake. The sun started to come up. Sakura saw it, and jumped off Chocy. "It's sunrise! I've never seen it before!" She walked closer to the lake, and sat down. Syaoran sighed, and sat down beside her.

She leaned closer to him. "You know, Syaoran, that argument back there was not how I picture what we'd be like when we are teenagers."

"...What did you picture?" He asked.

"Well, it was, more like this, watching the sunrise in the morning." She put her head on his shoulder.

"...Maybe you're right."

"I never want to fight again." She sounded hurt and lonely.

"Me neither."

"So it's a promise?" She held up one pinky and looked at him in the eyes.

"...Promised." They hooked their pinky together. She smiled brightly. "Have you ever thought that this is our last chance to be a teenage in six years?"

"No."

"Well, I have, the next time we get to be like this again will take years. I kind of feel ashamed that we wasted the night."

"Why?"

"I wanted to do, you know, something more grown up, just for the night."

"...it's still not too late."

"You think!?"

"Sure, we're still teens, are we? What do you want to do?"

She paused, and thought for a second, then her cheeks turned pick. "Hehe..."

"?"

"Close your eye!"

"??" Syaoran closed his eyes, Sakura smiled, then before he knew it, their lips came in contact the second the sun fully appeared.

~~~~~

"Sakura, Syaoran! Are you here?!" Coly and Giphis came back to the house that morning around eleven (Ometin time). By that time, Sakura and Syaoran were back to their 11 years old forms again.

"Coly! I thought you won't be back till tonight!" Sakura popped out of the kitchen.

"We came back early to check on you guys, oh, I'm so glad that you're safe!" She gave them a big hug. "Did that psycho get to you?"

"Umm...don't worry, it was all just a prank pulled by one of the village kids, I told them not to do it again."

"Those were some dangerous pranks they pulled." Giphis said.

"Well, yeah...don't worry, their parents are going to really punish them." Sakura got nervous. Coly and Giphis smiled to each other. "Okay, Sakura, you're our heroine...hehe." Coly and Giphis laughed.

~~~~~

Giphis and Coly escorted them out of town. They said good-bye as Sakura and Syaoran continued on to their journey. Syaoran, however, was more quiet then usual. "Syaoran?" Sakura asked when they left and travel on the road beside the big lake. "What's wrong?"

"Um...ah..." He's face turned red.

"You're...still thinking about that...kiss?"

He froze.

"Syaoran, I don't want you to worry too much about that, I told you it was just for the night. I don't you to get too concern."

[She's right, it was just one of those in the moment thing...] "Fine, but you'll have to stop talking about that, too, okay?"

Sakura smiled. "Deal!" They went on with their journey with out mentioning a word about the kiss. But deep in, Sakura can still feel the moment when his lip touched hers...

_To be continued..._


	9. The Jealous Chocy

Fine! Chapter 9!

~~~~~

_"I'll fight till the end for the sake of your safety..."_

CCS: THE LEGEND OF OMETIN

Chapter 9

~~~~~

Sakura can feel the warm breeze as they walk closer to the big blue sea. They were on a beach with pure water and shiny golden sand. "It feels so good..." Sakura said.

Syaoran sat on the sand. "I'm glad you're happy, now how are we suppose to head north? We can't cross the ocean without a boat or some sort!"

"We can fly across!" Sakura cheerfully suggested."The wind is too strong, it'll blow you right back!" Syaoran opposed. "Hm..." Sakura put a finger to her mouth and tried to think. "It's no good staying here." Syaoran said. "Lets walk along the shore to find some sort of boat rental shop..." [Even though I can find a rental shop, I don't know how to control a boat anyways...]

The walked for a few miles before something finally came into their sight, but it wasn't a boat rental shop. It looks more like a...barn...They walked closer, there was a big field right beside the beach, with fences all around; inside (the fence) there were livestocks. They couldn't tell what they, from where they were standing. As they walked closer, they realized those livestocks were Chocobos, but instead of yellow feathers ,like Chocy, they all have different colour feathers! They were blue, green, black, white,even gold!

"Wow...." They all exclaimed. They ran towards the fence. "It's beautiful!" Sakura's eyes shined. Not even Chocy knew that he has colourful relatives! Chocy stared at them with his jaw opened. Excited and surprised, he went over to talk with one of the brown ones, in chocobo language(chocobo languages are in {...}).

Chocy said: {Hey, brother, how is it going!?}

The brown chocobo looked up :{Never seen you before, are you a wild one?}

{Oh, no, see these kids here? They own me.}

{Cool, which farm are you from?}

{Terry's farm around Mt. Kilo, but I'm traveling with these kids now, so, how come you're so colourful?}

{It's born this way, our owners gave our ma and pa special kinds of nuts so that we can be colourful.}

{_Delicious_ nuts?}

{Don't know, never tried them before.}

{So, umm...where's you owner?}

{In the back, oh, here she comes.} The brown chocobo turned his attention to the feeding call. A lady came out of the barn with a hug sack of nuts over her shoulder. She was about the age of fifteen, had two blue ponytail behind her head, and was wearing a pair of short broken jeans. "Hello, Browny, you're always the first on to come on the feeding call aren't you?" The girl said. She saw Sakura and Syaoran, and waved at them. "Howdy!! Are you guys here to mate your chocobo?"

"Mating?" Syaoran said.

"Syaoran, what's mating?" Sakura asked like a little girl.

"Ah...um..."(sweat)

~~~~~

"This is a Chocobo breeding barn. I thought you wanted to breed you chocobo." The girl said. She led them into the cocobo barn, with around 20 chocobos. The stable is made up of logs of wood, it was nice and simple with sun lights beaming through the windows. "Oh, by the way, my name is Chica, nice to meet you!" Sakura and Syoaran watched as she fed the chocobos.

"I'm Sakura and this is Syaoran, and the chocobo out side is Chocy. We're on a journey travelling to the south."

"South? But that's the ocean!" Chica said.

"We know...that's why we're stuck."

Chica gave them a shiny bright smile, "You've come to the right place. I'm the ultimate chocobo breeder!" She stood up. Syaoran added in to the conversation. "Um...how's that going to help us cross the ocean?"

She grinned. "I believed you've notice these chocobos are different from the ones you've seen." Syaoran looked around. "They comes in different colour."

"Right, each chocobo here has different colours, and each one of them have a special ability!"

"Special ability?" Both Sakura and Syaoran asked.

"Correct. For example, this brown one right here can climb rocky mountains better than any of the other chocobos. And that green one over there can travel through the forest like Tarzan, the white one can fly, and the blue one over there can walk on water."

"How amazing!!" Sakura said. "How did you teach them to do all those things?"

"They're born that way." Chica said, giving a nut to an infant chocobo (orange), "We gave their parents special kinds of nuts that I found around this area, once they mate, different coloured chocobos are borned! Their abilities depends on what kind of nut did the parents took." She looked at Sakura, who was staring at the infant chocobo, she handed it to her. "Here, you can hold it."

"Oh, thank you. Owe...it's so cute~!" The tiny infant snuggled in her arms and made a high purring sound. Sakura laughed. "Oh, that tickled. Hehe...what does this one do?"

"We'll find our when it grows up!" Chica said.

"Here, Syaoran, you try!" She handed the baby chocobo to Syaoran. "What? Me? I don't know..." He said. Once the baby went into Syaoran's arm, he stared at Syaoran curiously. Syaoran froze, a sweat dropped down from his head. "umm....hi...." He said to the baby, trying to smile.

"Warrr...." The baby purred cheerfully, and rubbed its face against Syaoran's chest. "Hey..." Syaoran smiled.

"Oh...how cute, he likes you..." Sakura said

"Yeah, he's pretty cute, isn't it?" Syaoran was too shy to say anything else.

"Oh, no, not just the baby, you're cute, too, Syaoran." Sakura commanded.

"Wha...what!?" He blushed furiously. They fooled around with the infant. Chocy can see them playing and laughting from where he was standing. He sighed, and sat down on the sandy ground.

Browny (the brown chocobo) came to him and asked. {What's wrong?}

{You guys are all blessed with special talents, and I'm not even cute, like that baby they're playing with.}

{Oh, don't worry, you've gotta be good at something. Here, want some nuts?}

{Thanks.} Chocy took the nut and start eating.

{Hey, look on the bright side, you can run wild, and look at us, we're all locked up in the fence. Poor us.}

{Why? Is it that bad in there?} Chocy asked.

{Oh, no, this is the best, we get food, treated nicely and medical care.}

{Then why did you say "poor you"?}

{I don't know, my pa said that to 'no talent chocobos' that pass out the barn somethings. I think it makes them ('no talent chocobos') feel better about themselves....oops. Sorry dud.}

{Ah, it's okay, I know I'm a no good punk.} Chocy finished the nut, and walked away from the fence. He saw Sakura and Syaoran coming out of the barn, talking to Chica. "Look, we don't want a new chocobo that can carry us over the ocean, we already have Chocy." Syaoran said

"I know." Chica said. "But I told you, I'm the ultamite chocobo breeder, I've been studying chocobos since I was five. I know what kind of nuts will breed what kind of chocobo. I'll turn your chocobo into a brand-new 'over sea creature'!!!!"

"What??" Syaoran said. "I thought they're born this way!" "Yes, most of them are, but I've come up with a brand-new method to breed useful chocobos. You see, I've discovered that their ability to do all sorts of things doesn't come from their parents, so it's not the work of genetic. I found that it was the nuts that made them so useful! I've discovered the way to breed naturally borned chocobos and turn them into useful chocobos! Just leave it to me!"

Chocy was crushed. {So, I'm not useful??} He sadly walked away, trying to get as far away from them as possible.

Sakura showed a sad face. "But will Chocy be like these colourful chocobo? His feather colour will change, won't it?"

"That is a side effect," Chica said. "I can't prevent it."

"But I like Chocy's goldish colour..." She looked down at the little chocobo in her arms. "It might be very original and old, but it's what Chocy is."

"We'll think about it." Syaoran said. "Oh, can we stay here for the night?"

"Rentals are 10 Ome dollars per night. It includes dinner and breakfast."

"You do hotels too?" Syaoran asked.

"Hey, not everyone owns chocobos, and wants to breed them."

~~~~~

"Chocy~" Sakura yelled around the beach. "Chocy, where are you?" Syaoran and her had been seaching for Chocy for almost an hour now. "What can happened to him?" Sakura looks like she's going to cry any minute. Syaoran put one arm over her shoulder. "We'll find him, some how."

Chocy was looking at them from a corner, around the trees near the beach. {Sakura...Syaoran, I'm sorry that I was a not a good chocobo, I wish I could be like those chocobos in the barn. They can swim and fly and cross mountains....and I'm...I'm just a normal chocobo who doesn't do anything special...} Tears came pouring down his face. {But if you're going to make me into something I'm not, I can't do it...I'm sorry...} He used his wing to wipe the tears, and slowly walked away form Sakura and Syaoran.

Sakura and Syaoran was tired from all the walking. They sat on the sand. Waiting hopelessly for Chocy to show up. "What if he gets lost?" Sakura asked Syaoran. "I won't accept another chocobo other than Chocy! I just can't do that to him...he's been so loyal..." She began to cry. "You were thinking of getting another chocobo, weren't you? You wanted to cross this...this stupid ocean and get this dumb journey over and done with! Weren't you?"

"No!" Syaoran looked at her seriously. Sakura was kind-of shocked, "How can I think that...., how could I say that?! Chocy was always there for us, I won't give Chocy up, not even when it means I have to go through every part of Ometin to find him. Plus...I know how much he means to you." Syaoran's eyes softened. Sakura apologized. "Sorry...I...I wasn't thinking. How can I say such a thing?"

"That's okay, we both care alot for Chocy." He looked at her, a slight movement of grin showed up on his face. "Are you all rested up?"

Sakura nodded, gave him a smile. "Yeah!"

"Then let's go find Chocy!" They stood up, and continued to walk along the shore.

Just then, a huge fish appeared out of the ocean. It has huge fins and tail, its eyes are as big as watermelons. It tried to slam on top of Sakura. "AAAHHH!!" She screamed; one because it attacked her, and two because it was so...ugly. Syaoran pushed her out of the way just as the big fish sweaped its tail right above their head.

"Oh...oh..." Sakura was shaking with fear (of the monster), "Chocy~!!!!!!! Get us out of here!!!!

" ~~~~~

Chocy was pecking on a tree bark, trying to get the delicious nuts down. Then he sense something, the feeling of Sakura and Syaroan being in danger. {Sakura...Syaoran...they need me!} He said. He started to run towards them, he didn't know for sure that the direction he was running is right, but he can feel they're there.

{How could I be so pathetic? They need me, I can't just leave them high and dry! Even though I'm such a loser, even though they're going to make me into something I'm not, I still have to escort them!} He ran through the trees, and headed towards them.

~~~~~

In the mean time, the huge fish was attacking them with bubbles, they didn't have to dodge them if those were normal bubbles. But those bubbles explodes when it hit something. Syaoran kept running away, while Sakura tried to use the tree card to pop those bubbles before they hit them, in the same time, she had to keep jumping to avoid them. But that was when the problem occured, she tripped on her own tree card, and fell right down on the sandy ground. The fish took its chance, and charged at her.

"Sakura!!" Syaoran could never let that fish gets its fin on his love, he went forward to protect her. He tried to lift her up and get her out of the way, but her leg was tangled to the tree card's branches. The fish was about to stike, Syaoran covered Sakura with his own body, he hugged her tightly, and was prepared for the worst.

Just then, Chocy emerged from the woods, and pack furiously at the ugly, gigantic fish. Its eye was wounded. It waved its tail wildly, and hit Chocy. Then retreated into the sea, leaving the injured chocobo.

"Chocy!!" Sakura and Syaoran both ran towards the poor chocobo that's lying ten feet away from them, he did move but to breathe. Sakura lifted his head in an angle, Syaoran examined his wound. "The wing, it's broken, we need to get him to a hospital!"

"Let's bring him back to Chica! She's a chocobo expert! She'll know how to treat an injured chocobo!" Sakura suggested. She looked at Chocy, who seems so weak and tired in her arms. He was breathing heavily. "Don't worry, you'll be alright." She whispered, as tear drops came down from her face.

~~~~~

"It's not really broken, but he'll needs to rest, give him around three to four days." Chica said as she patched Chocy's left wing. They were all in one of Chica's chocobo barn. Night had come, and it was chillier than before."Thank you, Chica. " Sakura thanked her.

"Don't thank me, it's coming out of you bill when you check out." She took the first aid kid, and left the stable.

"Chocy, are you okay?" Sakura knelt down to look at the bird that's lying on soft pillow. "Wark..." He replied with a gentle sound. Syaoran kneeled down beside her, "Why did you ran out today?" he looked at the bird, and thought [Yeah, right, like a bird is going to tell me why did he escaped.]

Chocy avioded eye contacts when Syaoran asked him. Instead he looked at the the colourful chocobos that are asleep in the stable next door. Syaoran turned to look at the direction it was looking. Then he understood right away of what was going on. "You're jealous, aren't you." He said. Chocy looked at him with a pair of sad eyes. "And you're probably afraid that we might turn you in to a pink chocobo." Syaoran added.

Chocy nodded slightly, indicating {right on, Syaoran.} Syaoran looked at Sakura and they both smiled. Sakura patted on Chocy's head. "Silly, no matter how great those chocobos are, we'll never think for a second, replace you with anyone of them."

"Besides, " Syaoran added. "Even though they have special talents doesn't mean they are living happily. We love you, and no one love those like chocobos like we love you." One of the chocobos eyed him, and Syaoran waved to signal [Sorry, pal.]

Chocy was so touched, he cried and put his face on Sakura's lap. "Don't worry, Chocy, we'll be here, always." They stayed in the barn till Chocy fell asleep.

~~~~~

Sakura and Syaoran arrived at the point where the fish appeared last day. "Why do we have to be here anyway??" Sakura wined. "What if the fish comes out again??"

Syaoran had a sweat drop on his head, "We're here to get revange!" he said. "We can't just leave it well and unharmed! Not after what it had done to Chocy."

You're right..." Sakura shook her head. "We need to do it. For Chocy!"

"Besides, we'll need to get pass it anyway if we want to ever pass the ocean." Syaoran added. Sakura turned to face him. "So...that's your reason to defeat it??"

Syaoran's face turned red. "Um...no?"

"Syao-ran~~~~!" Sakura looked at him with a mad face.

Bubbles started to appear on the water's surface. Next came the big fish. It emerged from the water, looking at them with a mad stare. It tried to swallow them whole by opening it mouth, and tried to cup it on top of them, but they jumped out of the way; Sakura to the left, Syaoran to the right. The fish didn't react fast enough, and bumped its head on the sand. (it's really kinda funny if you think about it) But it didn't give up, it pulled its head out of the sand right away, and started to chase Sakura by jumping up and down on the sandy beach. "WAAAAAHHH!!" Sakura cried, turned the other way around, and ran for her life.

"Oh, no!" Syaoran exclaimed. "Yo! Big fish, over here!!" He chased and whistled to the fish to try and draw its attention from Sakura. But it ignored him completely. "Alright, you asked for it!!" Syaoran pulled a charm out of his utlilty belt. The charm bursted into flame, and he threw it on the fish's scale.

It took 2 seconds for the fish to feel the burn; it jumped high up in the air, wiggling its tail back and forth with tears in its eyes."Alright, fried fish." Sakura said. It finally landed with a big bang, and held still.

"It's not moving..." Sakura said, walking towards Syaoran. Syaoran stayed close to her, and said. "I guess its dead..."

"..." Sakura remained silence for a second. "I feel sorry for it now." That brought Syaoran to the ground as he slipped, can't believe what is he hearing. "What do you want me to do?" Syaoran asked her with a little smile as he got up.

But the fish wasn't dead, it jumped up, and started to chase them again, even faster. "YAAAAAHHH!!" They both yelled as they ran.

"(Huff, puff) Can't....you use... some card... to go.... against it??" Syaoran asked in between his breath. "By the time I took out the cards, I'd be eaten!" Sakura replied. They ran hopelessly along the beach...

~~~~~

At the same time in the barn, Chocy woke up from its sleep, and looked around for signs of Sakura and Syaoran. {Sakura?? Syaoran?? I had a bad feeling about this...} Chocy thought. He can feel it, they are in danger. {What the heck am I doing in here?? I have to go help them!} He said to himself.

{You can't go out, you're still injured!} the brown chocobo said.

{Well, boo-hoo! I've got to help them!} Chocy stood up, and did some stretching.

{Good luck on opening the door.} The brown chocobo said.

{Oopss....doors, that's right...I can't open the barn door...} He lightly bumped its head on the wooden wall.

The brown chocobo eyed it, and said. {I knew it, I have to save the day.}

{Huh?} Chocy looked at him. He started to "wark" as loud as he can get, then the other chocobos started to wark too. The sound was so loud, Chocy had to use his wings to cover his ears. {What the heck are you doing??} He said throught the noise.

{It's an emergancy wark, it tells Chica that something's wrong, first one chocobo starts warking, then the others join in to help make the wark even louder.} The brown chocobo explained. {Now, once Chica comes in through the door, you charge right out like nothing else matters, got it?}

{Wow...thanks...um...what's your name?} Chocy asked.

{Browny, got the name from being brown.} Browny said.

{Mmmm...brownies...} Chocy thought of the food brownie and started to drool.

{No, no. Brow-NY! Brow-NY! With an Y!} Browny said.

{Yeah, I know, thanks, you've been such a big help.} Chocy thanked him, and helped "wark".

Seconds later, Chica came into the barn. "What? What's wrong?" Chocy took the chance, and rushed out of the barn. "What?" Chica said.

~~~~~

Back at Sakura's side, they've finally came to an end. In front of them is a high rocky mountan about 50 feet tall, they stayed close to the wall, and turned around to look at the fish. The fish suddenly slowed, down, looking as if it's taking its time, it gave them a wicked laugh. Then it attacked.

Chocy came to rescued them just in time! It kicked the stupid fish's head, the fish fell backward. "Chocy!" Sakura said. Running up to it. "Oh, Chocy, why did you come, your wound isn't heal yet!" Chocy gave her an I-am-alright wark as a reply. But the fish came back with another attack, it tried to swallow them again. Chocy push Sakura out of the way, but the fish still caught, Chocy's tail.

The fish lifted Chocy up in the air as he screams in "warks", then with one toss, the fish swallowed Chocy, whole...

Sakura and Syaoran gasped, they couldn't believed what they saw. Chocy was eaten by this big, gigantic, ugly fish. The fish licked its lips for satisfaction. "No..." Sakura whispered, it was shocking, too much for her to handle. Syaoran hugged her. Both of them breathed hard, "Chocy...no..." her voice was getting louder. She stared at the empty space, her eyes were lifeless. "How dare you!!!" Sakura released her key, and tried to attack the fish, but Syaoran stopped her. "Stop, Sakura! It's too dangerous!!!!" He held her tight as she fought to let go. "I don't care!!! It ate Chocy!!"

"That's right!" Syaoran shouted, "I don't want to lose you too!" He looked at her in the eyes, Sakura calmed down, and looked at the big ugly fish. It rose again, ready to eat both of them, too. But it stopped. Something was wrong, it can feel its stomach kicking, it started to cough, harder and harder, until it spat something out.

It was Chocy.

He was covered with slimy saliva. He shook it body to get the stuff off. Sakura ran towards him like she never run before. "Chocy~~!!!"

"Wark!!" Chocy responded to that. Sakura was going to give him a big hug, but she looked at his body, covered with icky drool, she stopped herself. "I'll hug you later..." She grinned, sweat dropped from her head.

"Alright, buddy, you made it!" Syaoran padded Chocy's shoulder, but the saliva got on his hand, "ill..." He said, rubbing the stuff on his shirt. His drew his attention to a bracelet that's caught on Chocy's foot. "What's this?" He asked. Chocy point towards the fish. "You got it from the inside of the fish?" He asked. Chocy nodded, then they remembered the fish, the stared at it for a moment as it coughed.

The whole fish started to change, first it shrunk, but not to much, I mean it's still huge. Then the ugly scales started to change into a blueish colour, so did the rest of its body. Instead of ugly, bumpy skin, its skin turned smooth and soft. It took a deep breathe, as if it was relaxing. It looked at Sakura, Syaoran, and Chocy, its mouth opened, then before you know what was going on, it spoke in a low man's voice.

"Thank you, you fellow humans, and chocobo. That thing had been stuck in my throat for days."

They all went back a few steps. Syaoran asked with a big sweat drop on his head. "You...you can talk?"

"I can sing, too, if you want me to. What do you want, BSB or Speed??"

"Um...no, thanks..."

"What's the big idea!" Sakura interruped. "If you can talk, then tell us! Why did you tried to eat us?"

"I am ever so sorry for my abnormal behavior, I wasn't myself these days. My name is Fula...ever since someone slipped that...bracelet in my food." It pointed to the bracelet on Chocy's foot. Syaoran got it off Chocy's foot, and rotated to have a better look, then something caught his attention. "This...the pattern on this bracelet is exactly the same as the missioner's tattoo!"

"That's what got to me. The someone had put evil energy into the bracelet, and some how affects who ever got his hands on it."

"But...I'm touching it, and it didn't seem to affect me." Syaoran asked.

"The bracelet only have the power to affect one person, on fish, in this case. What I meant to say is, when it got to me, I wasn't myself, and I did things I didn't mean to do, for that, I apologize. But you've weaken me, actually the evil energy is the thing you've weakened. So I'm back to normal. If only there's a way that I can...thank you, I'd..."

Sakura took her chance, "You can carry us across the ocean to the southern part of Ometin!"

"Hey, that's right!" Syaoran added. "We're trying to cross the ocean, so if you can give us a lift, that'll be great! We don't have to mutate Chocy!"

"WWaarrkk???" Chocy got scared at the mutate idea.

"I would do it, as a thanks." the fish nodded.

"Yeah!!!" They all had a group hug.

~~~~~

"I don't think that big fish is more stable than my sea chocobo, are you sure you want to ride on that thing instead?" Chica stared at the big fish on the beach beside her barn.

"It'll be fine," Sakura answered. "Beside, I don't want to make Chocy into anything, I love his just the way he is..." She patted Chocy, Chocy gave a pleasant purr. Syaoran joined in. "Chocy may not be gifted with great physical abilities like these chocobos, but it's got the gift of courage for saving us so many times." Chocy was kind of embarrassed by Syaoran's words.

"Hmm, I guess I see your point." Chica grinned. "I guess you'll be heading off."

"Yeah, got to go." Sakura said, she leaped on to the fish, along with Chocy and Syaoran. "So long!" They waved, as Fula and swam out in to the ocean.

Syaoran held the bracelet in his hand. "The bracelet of hell...we've got new problems."

"Don't worry." Sakura put her hands on his shoulders. "We'll be fine, eventually, things always work out. Don't they?"

"I guess so." Syaoran said, smiling. "But these things are not beneficial! I mean if we defeat a missioner, we get its soul, but with this thing..." The bracelet started to shake, then the pattern broke, a light came out, and went right in to Sakura's bell, where the crystal lies. "It's not all that bad." Sakura said. "Look, you just got your reward! Looks like this thing has a soul too."

Syaoran tossed the remaining part of the bracelet in to the ocean, it burst into bubbles as soon as it touches the water. "It better be." Syaoran said. The trio sat together on Fula's back and headed off to their next adventure.

_to be continued..._

~~~~~

Fula is really a fish from MKR (Magic Knight Rayearth), it's Clef's pet. Clef is one of my favorite character from MKR ^^. As for the Chocobo stables, there is such a thing...in FF7 that is. You can really breed a mountain, river or a sea chocobo. It's such a fun game...that's it for today! See you in the next chapter!!

Piggy Ho Ho


	10. Underwater City Sami

Fine! Chapter 9!

~~~~~

_"I'll fight till the end for the sake of your safety..."_

CCS: THE LEGEND OF OMETIN

Chapter 10

~~~~~

Fula swam for almost an hour; it was about time that he stopped. "Oh, I almost forgot." He said. "In order to past the Ometin Ocean, you must go through the Sami City."

"Sami City?" Sakura asked with curiosity. "What's that?"

"The correct question is, where's that." Fula corrected her.

"Fine. " Sakura said. "And...?"

The fish smiled. "We'll be there soon." Sakura and Syaoran stared at each other with confusion.

It wasn't long until they spotted something in front of them. "Yikes!" Syaoran said. "What on earth is that?"

In front of them was a huge "waterfall", only the water goes up, it stretches from one end of the sea to another. "That, my friends, " Fula explained. "Is the border line of the Sami City."

"How are we going to get through it?" Sakura looked down on Fula. He flopped his left fin, and three pearls popped out. "First, you'll have to put these in your mouth, I'm a fish, I can breath under water, but you, my friends, can't. Therefore, these pearls will provide you with oxygen while you're under water." They put the pearls into their mouth like he ordered. Then Chocy thought of something. [Wait a minute; didn't he just take these out of his fin? Which is like...taking something out of your armpit! Groose!!!! He wants us to put THIS thing in our mouths??] How ever, he thought a little deeper. [Well, it's either this or suffocated....] He closed his eyes, and put it in his mouth, trying not to touch it directly with his tongue.

"Okay, time to dive!" Fula went in front of the waterfall, and said the password: "X$%#!!"

"Is he swearing at us?" Syaoran asked. He looks mad. "Oh no." Fula backed up, "It's just the password!"

An opening appeared on the water, Fula signaled them to swim through, and as soon as Fula went in it closed.

They went through a tunnel made of beautiful corals, that came in different colours. "Wow..." Sakura said. "It's like a wonderland..."

"We shall be there pretty soon..." Fula said. They came through the tunnel, and what they saw was unbelievable. Houses and buildings made out of beautiful crystals, they all look like crystal palaces. There's this particularly big one in the center of the city. People all have scales and fins on their heads; most of them are blue, and some green ones. Everyone was swimming around or riding on fishes and seahorses that is half the size as Fula. A guard came to them. "Hey!" He yelled. "You're not people of the city, who are you, and what are you doing with the princess's pet? It's been missing for days!"

[Princess's pet?] Syaoran thought. "We're travelers! We wanted to get to southern part of Ometin." He replied the guard.

"That's no reason to take the princess's pet!" the guard pointed it's spear towards them.

"Please!" Syaoran said. "It isn't what you think!"

"It's okay." Fula said. "They're with me."

"Very well, you can go." The guard let them go. "Wow." Sakura said. "You sure have power."

"Of course, I'm the princess's most precious treasure." He said proudly.

It might be strange for Sakura and Syaoran to see those people actually fins and gills on their heads, but to those citizens, Sakura and Syaoran are the strange ones there. People were staring at them, thinking, 'it's people from the land', and, 'why are they with the princess's pet?' Sakura and Syaoran felt terribly awkward about all those eyes. "Fula, are we there yet?" Sakura asked quietly, as if every word she says will shake the ground.

"We're there!" Fula cheered. They arrived at the biggest crystal building in the city. The guard went to pet him, "Hey, Fula, haven't seen you in days! What happened to you? The princess was really worried!"

"It's a long story... Oh, can you let these people in, too? They're the ones who saved me." Fula glanced at Sakura and the others.

"Sure, thing." The guard went back to his position to open the gate. Fula slowly swam into the palace.

Inside was a long, tall hall filled with paintings on crystal frames. "Do you see these pictures here?" Fula said to them. "Each one of them is a member of the royal family."

Servants were coming up to him to ask, "How are you" and "where have you been?" Every one of them shows respect for Fula.

They went up a huge stairway, and in front of them was a big door. They can tell by the size and decoration of the door that the room belongs to a very important person. The door opened, and a girl with long, bluish shinny hair came rushing down, "Fula! Fula! I heard that you're back! Where have you been! I searched all over the city for you!!!" She hugged Fula (or at least tried to). Her arms were way too small to wrap the gigantic fish. "Oh, it was a long story...anyway, these people (and chocobo) are the ones that saved me so I can return home safely!" Syaoran jumped down, Sakura rode on Chocy, and both of them slide down together. "Syaoran," Syaoran held out on hand and introduced himself. "Li Syaoran." The princess shook his hand. "I'm princess Zeldia, and those two are?" She looked at Sakura and Chocy. "Oh!" Sakura blushed. "Kinimoto Sakura! Very nice to meet you!" She bowled. "And this is our pet, Chocy." She petted Chocy's head.

"Thank you for saving my Fula. I must give you a reward." The princess said.

"Oh, there's no need, Fula is already doing us a favor by taking us to the southern part of Ometin." Syaoran said.

"That can't possibly do, here, why don't you all stay for a day or two. Until I think of something to reward you. And let Little Fula have a rest until it escorts you again?"

[Fula has been worn out, hasn't it...] Syaoran thought. "Sure." He answered and smiled.

"Great, I have to go now, Fula needs a rest. The servant here will guide you to your rooms." A Samian (people of the Sami City) girl came out, and bowled to them. "Oh," Zeldia looked back at them as she started to go. "And please join us for dinner tonight. My father will be there too!" She turned around, and headed off.

"Her father?" Sakura said, holding on to Syaoran's sleeve. "Isn't that the king?"

"That's right," The servant said. "You are so lucky to have the honor to eat with our royal ones." She took Chocy, "We'll be putting him in our underwater stable, and he'll be taken care of nicely there." Another Samian man guided Chocy to its stable. "As for you two, follow me." She started to walk towards the direction opposite to Chocy's.

Sakura never let go of Syaoran's sleeve. "You think Chocy would be alright?" She looked at him with a sense of worry in her eyes. "Don't worry." Syaoran smiled. "Princess Zeldia won't do anything happen to Chocy after we saved Fula's life." Sakura leaned closer to him.

~~~~~

Princess Zeldia put Fula to sleep after she cleaned him and fed him till he barf. She gently tugged him in his little cave, and was about to get out of Fula's playing area when one of the servants called her. "Princess Zeldia!" The servant stopped in front of her, holding a jewelry box, "This was delivered to you just then, it's from the same man that gave Fula the bracelet that it accidentally swallowed."

"What?" Zeldia reacted. "Why on earth would he give a bracelet to Fula? He doesn't even have hands!"

"Well," The servant answered. "This person was originally giving it to you, but some how, the chef put it in Fula's food."

"I'm firing that chef..." Zeldia said. "How nice of this person to give me another one!" She opened the box, and gasped. "This...." She said.

"What's wrong, princess?" The servant asked.

"Ah..." She said, slowly. "Are you sure that this is a bracelet?"

"Huh?"

"...........It looks like a neck ring to me~!" She smiled, and cheered. The servant lost her balance and fell. "Um..." She forced herself to get up. "I guess, you can use it as a neck ring..."

"Hey, great idea!" (You'll see what she means when you see her neck; it's full with neck rings...) She picked up the neck ring and studied it. "It's very nice...who sent it again?"

"Um..." the servant hesitated. "He didn't leave a name, but it says on the box that he's from an 'on land country'."

"Hmm..." Zeldia studied it even closer. "Maybe I'll send him a note." She put the neck ring back into the box. "Tell me when dinner's done." She ran back into her room.

~~~~~

Sakura and Syaoran went into the guest room. The room was tall and high class. It comes with two beds that were shaped into a seashell, some flowers in each corner, and a bathroom. The walls were styled with beautiful pictures that are carved on the pavement. "What a lovely room!!" Sakura exclaimed excitingly. Suddenly, her face dimmed down. "Only if Chocy is here...."

Syaoran patted her shoulder. "Look, if you're that worried about Chocy, we'll just go visit him in the stable after dinner."

"Okay! It's a deal!" She smiled brightly and lifted up her pinky, they pinky swore.

After they put all their belongings away, the servant came and tells them dinner's done. And led them to a big dinning room that can fit almost fifty people; they saw an old man with long, white beard sitting on the biggest seat. He's quite muscular for his ages. No trouble guessing who he is. "Good evening." He spoke. "I am Zeldia's father, king of the Sami City."

Sakura and Syaoran bowled politely, a little embarrassed. "It's an honor to meet you."

"Oh, you don't have to treat me like I'm the god or something." He laughed. "Just be casual."

Both of them sat in a seat besides him. "Where's princess Zeldia?" Syaoran asked.

"She's probably dressing up." The king smiled. "Oh, that's my girl...after her mother died she's the only one I've got."

"Don't tell your sad story again, pa!" Zeldia came in. "Not in front of the guests!" She wrapped her arms around him. "The past is the past, you have to look at the future, and to do so you have to take care of yourself! I heard your back is hurting again."

"Oh...when one gets old, there's got to be some sickness. All I want now, is you getting marry to a decent man, and take over the city, then I can retire and enjoy my life."

"Dad..." She smiled. "I'm not going to take care of you. So don't push me on the marriage thing."

They went on, Sakura and Syaoran looked at each other and smiled. Seeing Zeldia and his dad getting along so nicely makes them happy. "You can almost feel the love..." Sakura said quietly.

"Yeah..." Syaoran agreed.

~~~~~

They went to visit Chocy liked they promised. Chocy was lying lifelessly in the stable, almost bored to death. When he heard Sakura called his name, he jumped up like a boosting rocket. Sakura and Syaoran came into the stable with a basket of food in their hand. "Look, Chocy!" Sakura said, lifting the basket higher, "It's your favorite! Cake rolls with strawberry jam!" If there's anything Chocy would die for, it's strawberry. He jumped up and down endlessly till Sakura settled him down and fed him. They sat in the stable like a family.

~~~~~

Zeldia went back to her room; she loosened her hair, and sat in front of the mirror. She combed her blue hair, and asked the servant to bring in some to bring in some hairpins. Just when she put away her comb, the jewelry box with the nice ring in it caught her attention. She slowly opened the box, and stared at it. She remembered the way her father pushed her to get marry. [Could this person has a crush on me?] She smiled to herself. She opened the box, and took out the neck ring. She felt an evil force as she put on the neck ring. A stroke of pain hit her chest; she kneeled down as a response. The servant came in with her hairpins, when she saw the princess was in pain, she rush towards her, leaving the pins behind. "Princess!" She cried. "Are you okay?" She turned towards the door. "Doctor! We need a doctor here!!"

Suddenly, Zeldia's legs turned into a long fish tail, her body gets bigger, and the tail grew until it's about 5 meters long. Her eyes were covered with evil glimmers, and fangs were growing out of her mouth.

The servant was petrified. She screamed for help. The guards came rushing in, shocked by what they're seeing. Zeldia took her first attack. She swept the tail across the room, and knocked all of them out of her way. The servant hit her head on the wall and fainted. Zeldia roared, using her tail to make a big hole on the wall, she exited the room to outside.

The big bang of her destroying her own room alerted Sakura and Syaoran, they rushed outside the stable along with Chocy. Servants came rushing out of the palace. Syaoran stopped one of them. "What's going on here?" The loud noise continued. Zeldia was doing some more damage. "Monster..." She said, with fear in her voice. "There is a monster in the west wing of the palace!" She ran away along with the others. Syaoran looked towards the west wing. Clearly the big bang noises were coming from that direction, there were smokes coming out too; obviously, something was doing a whole lot of damage to the palace. "Come on, Sakura!" He yelled. Sakura nodded, they jumped on Chocy's back and rushed to the scene of the crime.

They came across Zeldia's room to see if she's alright, but to their surprise her room seems to have the most damage. Guards were lying around the floor, walls were broken and ceilings were collapsed. "Oh..." The servant regained consciousness; Syaoran lifted her head up. "What happened? Where's Zeldia?"

The servant answered with a weak voice. "Princes...Zeldia...is..." She coughed.

"Where? What happened to her?" Sakura rushed.

"She's...that monster..." Both of them gasped. They can't believe what they were hearing. "What happened?" Sakura cried. "How come she turned into a monster?"

The servant breathed deeply, "She...she was in pain.... then I went to see if she's alright...then...she transformed..." She passed away again. "Hey!" Syaoran yelled. He put her down. "Is she alright?" Sakura asked.

"She's just asleep. She'll be okay." Syaoran stood up, and jumped back on Chocy. "But why did the princess turn into a big ugly monster?" They headed towards west wing.

"Sakura!! Syaoran!!" It was the king. "You should stay here! It's the safest place! I've already asked for the general to send out troops to destroy the monster! If we don't stop it, it'll go into the city, the citizens' lives would be fatal!"

"What? No!" Sakura yelled. "You can't kill her, she's Zeldia!"

"What on earth are you talking about?"

"It's true!" Syaoran jumped down. "You have to tell them to withdraw right away!"

"Nonsense!" The king was furious. "How dare you insult my beloved daughter?"

"Look, the decision is for you to make! If you don't believe us, the troops will kill your own daughter!" Syaoran reasoned with him.

Both of them looked at each other, no one spoke for a moment. The general came to make report to the king. "Our troops are no match for the monster, should we sent out more?" The king was still staring at Syaoran. He swallowed hard, and answered the general. "Retreat."

"What?" The general exclaimed.

"You heard me, I said RETREAT!!" The king yelled. The general saluted. "Ye...YES! SIR!" He ran to give out orders to retreat.

The king sat down on a chair, rubbing his face with his hands, he turned to face Syaoran. "My daughter or not..." He said. "I'll still have to make sure that my citizens are safe!"

Syaoran gave him a confident smile. "Leave it to us!" He jumped on Chocy, and rushed toward Zeldia. The king looked at them as they ran towards his beloved daughter's direction. "Who are those kids...?"

Zeldia was out of the gate already, men were withdrawing, just like the king ordered. Fula swam to her. "Zeldia! Zeldia! Please! Stop it, right now!!"

"Fula!" Sakura cried. Fula turned and saw them headed towards him. "Sakura! Syaoran!" He said.

"You recognized her?" Sakura asked. Fula nodded, and used his fin to point at Zeldia. "Look!!"

At that moment, all of them saw it, the bracelet that once controlled Fula's body and turned him into an ugly fish. "The bracelet!!!" Sakura cried. "But why is it on her neck??"

"She probably figured it look better on her that way...(sweat dropped)" Syaoran said. "Anyway...we'll have to try and keep her from the city." He jumped on Fula. "Come with me!" He ordered.

"Wait!" Sakura said. "What are you going to do?"

"Distract her, and try to get the bracelet off her." Syaoran said.

"Are you going to hurt her?" She asked with concern.

"..." Syaoran hesitated. "Depends." Sakura's heart stopped for a moment. Syaoran's eyes tell her that his mind has made up; he's going to stop her, the easy way, or the hard way.

Syaoran rode on Fula, and swam upwards, towards Zeldia's neck area. "I really don't see how are you going to take the bracelet off of her." Fula said.

"We'll have to try!" Syaoran took out his sword. Zelia's tail whipped Fula on his left side, they flew ten meter to the right before they came to a stop. "She's bad news." Syaoran said. "Watch out for her tail!"

They charged towards her again, this time they watched out for her tail, but didn't see the other stuff coming. Zeldia spited out pure acid, "Yikes!" Syaoran and Fula dodged just in time. "There's no way that we can get even close to her neck!! How can I take it off?!" Syaoran yelled.

Sakura took out her staff. "Maybe this will help!" She pulled out the Water Card. "WATERY!" She commanded. "Form a whirlpool around it!"

The whirlpool surrounded Zeldia. "Great!" Syaoran said. "But what do I do now? I can't get in, either." He looked at Sakura. "Um..." She said. "Oh, I'll stop the whirlpool in the count of three, you can take her by surprise, just go behind her, and take the neck ring off."

"I hope this works..." Syaoran said.

"One...two..." Sakura started to count when Syaoran was in his position. "Three! Watery return!!" The whirlpool stopped, and Syaoran rode Fula to charged to Zedia's neck. But Zeldia felt them and she swung her arms wildly and hit them back into the palace, making a big hole on the wall.

"SYAORAN!!!!" Sakura cried. She rode Chocy, and rushed to them. "Syaoran!!! Syaoran!!! Are you okay?" She found him lying on the huge stairway out side Zeldia's room; Fula lied on the bottom of the stairs. Sakura got off Chocy and ran towards him. "Syaoran!!"

He got up slowly, didn't seems to have any bones broken. He's fine. Sakura hugged him, and started to cry. "Are you okay...? I'm sorry that my plan didn't work..."

"Silly girl, it's not your fault." He forced a smile. Meanwhile, Fula was slowly getting up. "I'm afraid I can't fight anymore." Syaoran walked towards him. "It's okay, you rest right here." He got up, and was starting to walk back out when Sakura stopped him. "You can't get out now...you can be killed."

Syaoran looked at her. "I was trying to go easy on her because she's Zeldia, but it seems like I'll have to take her seriously." He took her hand. "You'll have to know that this means I might have to hurt, or even kill her."

"Syaoran..." Sakura looked into his eyes, her tears blurred her vision.

"I'm sorry, but I have no other choice..." Syaoran said. "It's whether the whole Sami City, or her." He let go of her hand, and turned to face his enemy.

He stood in front of her with no sign of fear, or hesitation. [I'll have to do it...] He told him self. He put the sword in front of him, and gathered up energy. Zeldia roared at him, trying to scare him away, but he didn't go. Instead he stood there, eyes closed, charging up for power. Zeldia roared again, this time she's going to attack.

At that moment, Syaoran thought of all the people that'll be mad at him: Zeldia's father, Fula, and all the citizens of Sami City.

Zeldia rose up her arm, with sharp claws on every finger, she was all prepared to slice him up.

But what about Sakura? Will she think of him as a murderer, too? Will she hate him for what he has to do?

The claws came down.

[What? What do you mean? Has to? I don't have to kill her! There're some other ways! What am I doing? This is the worst choice I can possibly choose!] Syaoran thought to himself. He took one last look at Sakura. She was looking at him with a pitiful face. The feeling seems so far away, as if she's look at him from the other side of the prison's cell. [Why...?] Syaoran asked himself. [WHY?] He leaped to attack Zeldia.

Zeldia's claws came down almost the same time he leaped up, he smoothly dodged her sharp claws, and cut her on her neck.

It all happened so fast, its seems as if Syaoran had chopped her head off. He landed, and put his sword away. Sakura and the others stared fearfully at Zeldia, who remained frozen. She collapsed, and returned to her original self. Fula caught her. "What happened?" He asked.

Syaoran didn't really chopped her head off, all he did was broke the bracelet. The pattern of the tattoo was completely destroyed, as a result, she returned to her original self. Sakura went to see if she's all right. Just when she got close enough, the bracelet was broken into millions of pieces, and the soul of the bracelet was sucked in to Sakura's necklace ----- where the crystal is.

"Syaoran!!" Syaoran turned around as he heard Sakura called him. She jumped on him, and giggled like a hyena. "I knew thatyou wouldn't hurt her! Syaoran is the best!!" She wrapped herself around him, and squeezed him so tight, he can hardly breathe. "O...okay! Sakura, I got the point!" He said, blushing. Sakura looked at him, arms still around his neck, her face filled with thankfulness. "I trusted you." She said softly.

Syaoran blushed and turned away to avoid eye contacts. "That was a dangerous shot, you know, one slip and she could've killed me."

"Thanks, Syaoran..."

~~~~~

"The time has come...for our role in the legend to be complete..." Zeldia said. After she turned back into her original form, she had settle down, and they all gathered at the dinning room to meet.

"What role?" Sakura said.

Zeldia looked at her. "A legend had been passed down, from one generation to another, it goes like this...

"The seal from the hell will break, villains will be free, but the hero and his heroine will save us all. As the guardian of water, we, the member of the Sami City's royal family must grant the two heroes the power to help on their journey." She paused, and put her hand in front of her chest. She closed her eyes, as a bluish crystal appeared in her hand, it glows with beautiful white light as it flows in the air. The crystal flew towards Sakura and Syaoran; they cupped the crystal with their hands. 

"This is...?" Asked Syaoran.

"It's the Crystal of Aqua, it is our job, the royal family of Sami City to pass this on to you.

The crystal flew higher, suddenly, it released a large amount of light, split into half, and vanished into Sakura and Syaoran's body. "The time will come for it to help you to defeat the missioners from hell."

"How?" Sakura asked.

"I'm afraid I can't answer you, my job is only to keep it, till you arrive. I have no idea of how the crystal works." Zeldia ordered the servant to bring Fula into the room. "Now, you must continue on with your journey."

~~~~~

They received a large amount of money from the royal family of Sami City when they leave. Fula had taken them up the shore. "Thanks for everything, I'll miss you guys!"

"You, too!" Sakura and Chocy waved as Fula dived in to the ocean. Sakura sighed, and went on the back of Chocy along with Syaoran. They're finally here, southern part of Ometin!

"You know, Syaoran, you really looked handsome when you took down the monster form of Zeldia!" Sakura said with a little blush.

"Wha...What??" Syaoran, however, blushed like crazy.

"Maybe when you grow up, you can be an action movie star!" Sakura laughed.

"Oh, please, Sakura!" Syaoran said. They left the shore and went on with their journey...

_to be continued..._


	11. The One and Only Hungry Thief named Jon

Am I in heaven? It's chapter 11!

~~~~~

_"I'll fight till the end for the sake of your safety..."_

**CCS: The Legend of Ometin**

Chapter 11

~~~~~

As the gang continued their way to south, they came across a huge, crowded city ---- the capital city of Ometin: P.H.H. City.

"Wow…" They all exclaimed when they arrived. Chocobos were zooming by, and the markets were full of people, selling anything and everything you can imagine. "Cool," Syaoran said. "All the places we've ever been to were just small villages or underwater." A big wagon that was filled with dead birds zoomed by, leaving some feathers behind, Syaoran brushed the feathers off his shirt. "I've never seen anything like this…in Ometin, I mean."

"Yeah, not even Tokyo is this crowded." Sakura agreed. "Have you ever been to a place like this back on earth?"

"It sure reminds me of Hong Kong, it was so crowded, you can hardly breath. No matter where you go, there are people."

"Hard life." Sakura commended.

"You kind of get used to it when you've been there all your life." He signaled Chocy to move on.

They looked around for a moment. The city seems to get more crowded as they moved towards the market. There were so many kinds of goods; you can buy anything you can image. Stores were all over the street; they were tent like buildings that can be easily taken down. "Wow," Sakura exclaimed. "This stuffed animal looks like Kero-chan!" She joked as she held up one of the toy from the toy store.

"So it does~" Syaoran said, he petted the toy. "Hey, hey, hey!" The owner said. He was big, has black beard, and looks pretty mean. "This isn't a playground, you'd either buy it, or leave it." Sakura looked at him, and then put down the stuffed animal. "Oh, I…I'm sorry, I wasn't going to buy it, anyway."

"What?" the owner leaned forward. "If you ain't gonna buy it, why the hell were you playing with it?" He sounded old and grumpy. Sakura got scared, and backed away. It's time for Syaoran to the rescue. He jumped between Sakura and the salesman. "Hey, back off!" He yelled, "Pick on someone your own size!" The salesman waved his humongous hand, "Get outta here! If you're not buying, then stay out!"

Everyone was watching them; a hand reached out and took the most valuable accessory in the store. The salesman and his argument caught everyone's attention at the moment, and no one saw the hand, or even realizes the accessory was gone.

"You guys are no good…" the salesman turned around, and realized something was missing. "What the…" he said. Then yelled, "Where the hell is my expensive gold teddy bear??!! That thing worth a fortune!!" Syaoran picked on him, "Ha ha, the bad guy got bad luck. You deserved it!" He made a face. The salesman turned around with an extremely angry expression, "It's you…isn't it?!" He yelled.

"It's me…. what?!" Syaoran asked. The salesman walked slowly towards him. "You stole it!!" He accused. Syaoran put two palms in front of his chest, both for defense, and also to prove that he has nothing to do with it. "How on earth can I steal it when I was standing over here?!" He shouted. The salesman pointed towards the place where the bear used to be. "You were creating a distraction so your partner can steal my precious bear!!"

A person in the dark was watching, he realized the boy was getting framed, because of him. [Oh, well.] He thought, beginning to leave.

"Do you know what the penalty for stealing is?! Death! I'll get you! And your girlfriend too!" He said, and began to grab Syaoran's arm. "Hey!" Syaoran yelled. "I didn't do it!" Sakura held Syaoran's hand. "Syaoran, I'm so scared!"

[…] the guy thought, he covered his face with his scarf, and went forward…to kick the supporting pole of the toy store. "I am soooooo gonna get you for that!" The salesman said. Then the masked guy stabbed him on the shoulder. "Umm…I believed that is your store…or used to be?" He pointed towards the store. "What the…" The salesman didn't know what on earth was he talking about until he turned around, and saw his store had totally collapsed. Things were broken and scattered everywhere. Everything was a mess. He let go of Syaoran; and ran towards his store. "NOOOOOOOOO!!!! WHAT ON EARTH HAPPENED??!!" The masked guy grabbed Syaoran's hand, and ran for it. "Now's our chance!!" Syaoran pulled Sakura with him, and Chocy can do nothing, but follow.

As they got to a safe distance, they stopped and tried to catch their breath. They were in an ally, behind a three-floor building. Syaoran thanked the masked guy, "Listen…thanks for the help, I really appreciate it." The guy couldn't resist, he stood up, and acted like a super hero. "Ha ha, no problem, I'm glad to help." He swan his scarf like a hero cape, and laughed loudly. "Umm…" Syaoran said. "You don't have to be so dramatic."

"Oh, yeah, sure. Ah, I have to go now, see-ya!" He tiptoed away, something in his scarf reflected the sunlight, and Chocy saw it. He pulled at the scarf with his beak. "Hey~what gives…!" the masked guy said; then the golden teddy bear fell out of his scarf.

"Huh??" Syaoran looked at the bear as that guy quickly slipped it back into his shirt. "Ah, um…that's…" the masked guy said. Syaoran finished the sentence for him. "You're the one who stole it!!" Sakura looked at him with a mad glare. "What? You're the one who got us into trouble in the first place!!"

The man backed up, and took his scarf off. "Alright, alright, chill man, already...it's no big deal~!" Just then, a hook shape stone that's tided around his wrist was shinning. He looked at the stone with a surprise face. "What is that?" Sakura asked. Syaoran made a face. "Did you steal _that_ too?"

"NO!" He yelled. "This is…inherited by my mother…if this is glowing, then that means…" He looked at Sakura and Syaoran. "You're the legendary heroes!!" He almost yelled it. Syaoran ran forward to cover his mouth. "Oh, great! Yell louder why don't you, I believe a grandmother in the next village didn't hear you!!" The man choked, and whispered. "Sorry…" Sakura asked. "But how on earth could you tell?"

The man raised his wrist. "This stone is a detector, it response to the 'Angel's wing' when it's near by." Sakura tilted her head. "What's 'Angel's Wing'?" The man gave her a look. "Oh, come on, you don't even know what 'Angel's Wing' is?? It's the crystal that brought you here in the first place! Also sucks in the missioner's soul?"

"Oh, the crystal!" Syaoran said. He turned to Sakura, "Do you know that thing is called 'Angel's Wing'?" Sakura shook her head. "I have no idea."

The man sat down. "Well, I don't blame Shi Shi for not telling you, after all, she's just a kid." Both Sakura and Syaoran faced him and asked. "You know Shi Shi?" The man nodded. "She's my cousin."

"Cousin??!!"

~~~~~

They settled down in a local restaurant. "The name's Jon, nice to meet you." He said while stuffing food down his mouth. He eats like a pig. "One more dish of these delicious thingy, please!" He ordered the waiter. Sakura and Syaoran stared at him as he chewed the food in a very fast pace. Sweat drops rolled down. "Aren't you going to eat?" He asked with his mouth full. Syaoran and Sakura gave the same answer. "Oh no, I'm fine..." they even waved their hands. Then Syaoran talked quietly to himself. "After...seeing you…it kinda…makes someone lose their appetite..." Jon lifted his head. "You said something?" Syaoran shook his headwildly. "Oh… no, nothing at all." Sakura looked at his face and asked. "How'd you mange to _not_ choke?" she turned to Syaoran. "Does he remind you of someone? You know; someone who eats a lot?"

Syaoran though, a piece of cloud appeared above his head, and inside the cloud was..._Yukito_. He laughed, and the cloud popped. "Hee hee..." Sakura asked. "Yeah...? Don't you think so...?" she smiled. Syaoran chuckled, "hehe...yeah."

"I want you to know..." Jon said, wiping his mouth. And talked in a serious manner, "I am here to help you, this stone, in my hand is given to me by my mother. When she gave it to me, she told me that it's my destiny to help the heroes in their journey. I was so excited, I mean, I was still a child. But now I know it's a reasonability and a must complete mission, it's kind of a rip-off. I mean I have to help you guys, and I don't get zip, nothing." Sakura and Syaoran eyed each other. Sakura lowered her head. "Well...if you have to put it that way..."

"Oh don't worry." He casually waved his hand. "It's not your fault." He called the waiter. "Can I have the receipt, please?" Syaoran reached into his pouch to get his wallet. Jon put a hand in front of his face. "Oh no, I got it." A fat and wealthy customer came in. When he went pass Jon and the group, Jon smoothly slide his hand in the fat man's pocket under the table, and brought out his big fat wallet. Everything was done so precisely; and so professionally. It's like a magician exhibiting his trick in front of his audience. He removed a bill from the wallet, and put it on the tray. "Keep the change." He said, as if he was a wealthy merchant. The waiter bowled for his generousness. They all stood up, ready to leave when the wealthy man yelled with eardrums-breaking noise. "MY GOD!! WHERE IS MY WALLET?? IT'S GONE!!" Syaoran looked at Jon with a suspicious glare, but Jon just walked out as fast as he could.

They walked down the crowded market street. "So, how exactly, are you going to help us?" Syaoran asked, breaking the silence. Sakura joined in. "Definitely not by stealing…"

"Actually," Jon said, picking up a piece of bread on a near by store when the owner wasn't looking. "I've been working on that." He tore a piece of bread and started eating. Syaoran looked at him with a mad glare. [This guy steals whenever he can get his hands on…] Sakura was thinking about something different. [That guy sure can eat…he just finished a whole meal…]

"You see...this country's princess is a beautiful woman. As a result, a lot of princes from other countries are asking her to marry them. There's a lot of people who came this month...and do you know what I'm thinking?" Jon looked at them. Sakura and Syaoran looked at each other, then looked back at Jon, shaking their head. Jon continued, "One of the missioner could've been there, too. If he did get the princess, then it'll be a lot easier messing up the whole country."

"How can you tell which one of is him?" Sakura asked. Jon tapped his nose. "I have a pretty darn good idea of who it it..." Just then, a soldier with a whip passed by. "Hey, get out of the way! The governor's cart is passing by!" He brandished his whip around to show his power and what he is capable of. People obeyed his orders and got out of the way fairly quickly. The cart passed by, everyone can tell that someone important is inside because of the fancy decoration around the cart. Beautiful shiny curtains covered the cart's window, covering it so well, it's almost as if the governor's face would wrack when commoners see it. Jon looked at the cart; his eyes never left it until it went out of his sight. Sakura saw the way Jon looked at the cart, "Is he the one?" She asked. Jon turned around, and explained. "At least I think so. He just came to the country half a month ago; just like any other man who came for the princess's heart, but the king already trusted with a job like this." He looked back at the direction the cart had gone to, " I don't think he earned it. He must've some how tricked the king into doing this. The worst thing is, I don't think he's here for the job of governor."

"He's here for the princess, isn't he?" Syaoran asked. Jon looked at him. "That's not all, if he _does_ get the princess like he wishes, he'll be our king!"

~~~~~

"If a missioner becomes a king of a powerful country like this, then we'll be in serious trouble." Sakura said. "How are we going to stop him?"

"We can't go into the palace and stop him, we're just commoners!" Syaoran added.

"I told you, I've been working on it." He pulled out an ad out of his pocket, and handed it to Syaoran. Sakura and Chocy moved close to see what it is. Syaoran scanned it, and looked up to face Jon with a confused look. "Fighting competition?"

"It's a competition held by the king himself." Jon explained. " It's so big, the whole country knows about it. Whoever wins gets to stay at the palace for vacation. Hey, in a week, we can find out that governor's identity, and kick his lousy butt out of the country." He kicked his foot, pretending he was actually kicking the governor. Syaoran nodded. "Okay, so you're going?"

"Me? What are you, kidding? I can't go. I'd be down on the first round with out even know what a K.O. is." He said. Sakura, Syaoran and Chocy almost fell on the ground. "Then why on earth would you even _consider_ this plan???" Syaoran asked. "Oh," He said, with a sly voice. "I'm not going, but you are!" He slapped Syaoran's back. Syaoran jerked. "Me?!"

"Of course~" Jon said as if it's no big deal. "I mean, you _did_ come this far defeating all the missioners along the way, right?"

Syaoran looked at him with a big sweat drop.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Well, that's it for now, I'll add in some more later.-_-'  
To tell you the truth, I think I drew Jon a little...just a little like Ashley...(for those of you who is thinking who the heck is Ashley, he's the main character from Wild Arms 2, I finished that, btw...)

Piggy Ho Ho 


	12. PHH Fighting Competition: Will Syaoran W...

**CCS: The Legend of Ometin  
**_"I'll fight till the end for the sake of your safety..."_

Chapter 12

~~~~~

The day has come, heroes everywhere had gathered here at P.H.H. to join the famous P.H.H. Fighting Competition. All kinds of fighters showed up. The P.H.H. coliseum of Ometin is the place the competition is held. It was so full with swamps of people, beside than fighters; there were more than ten thousands audiences that attended the competition.

While people were trying to make their way to the ticket booth, and pushing their way in; Syaoran and the gangs are in the competitors' dressing room, getting ready for the first round. Chocy and Jon were in charge of buying food and first aid potions (Jon thought that Chocy would help him get through the crowds). Sakura stayed in the dressing room with Syaoran, to help him with his armor. "Arms up." She said, as she helped him adjust the buckle at his back. Syaoran obeyed. _Click!_ The buckle made a small noise; Syaoran put his arms back down. Sakura turned him around, brushing off the dust and fixing his hair. She took a step back and studied him head to toe. "Perfect! Oh, Syaoran, you look so handsome! Just like a real warrior!" She clapped her hands together, admiring him.

"Quit joking around." Syaoran turned his face away, but his eyes are still looking at Sakura. His face blushing slightly. Sakura shook her head. "No, you really do!" She took a step closer to him. "Can you wear this all the time?"

Syaoran faced her. "All the time? But it's too heavy!" Sakura made a face, and complained. "That doesn't sound like a very brave warrior's talk."

"We got the stuffs ready!" Jon came back with Chocy, who had a big bag of stuffs strapped around him. Jon took out the products in the bag one by one. "We've got some first aids, some food...hey, want some tolos?"

Sakura and Syaoran wandered towards the suspicious food. "What's a tolo?" Sakura asked, poking the new and strange food. "Well," Jon explained. "It's meat wrapped in Ometin vegetable leaves and fried; it goes best with this little dish of sauce at the side." He took one, dipped it in the sauce and ate it. "Di-he-fus!" He said, trying to pronounce "delicious" with his mouth full. Sakura and Syaoran each took one. They put it in their mouth, and chewed slowly, to see if it's edible before dipping the sauce. "Not bad." Syaoran said. "Yeah!" Sakura agreed. Taking two more before they went back to put on the rest of the armor. "So, you ready?" Jon asked.

"Sure," Syaoran said, "Why not." Sakura put one tolo in her mouth; turned around and held the other one in front of Syaoran's face. Syaoran bit it, holding it with his mouth, while Sakura bent down, and took the armor parts. "You do know the rules, don't you?" Jon said. Syaoran shook his head, mouth still holding the tolo.

"It's a multi-weapons match. You can't use your own weapon; instead, they'll assign different weapons for you and your opponent in every round. You'll start with a little warm up in the first round, and the same goes for other contestants."

Syaoran swallowed the tolo while Sakura put on armor parts on his arms. "Don't move." She said.

"It's call 'Weight lifting'." Jon said. "It's a big elimination contest to kick out some weak contestants, only the strongest stays."

Sakura and Syaoran both made a sudden move and looked at Jon. "What??" They said at the same time. Sakura's hand slipped, and pinched Syaoran's hand with the buckle. "Ow!" He yelled, rubbing his hand. Sakura put her hand on her head, "Sorry." Then she turned to Jon. "But...what'd you say?"

"Weight lifting. You know, lifting weight."

"We know what it is!" Sakura said. "But Syaoran has a big disadvantage. He's not as strong as the others. I mean...look at his size and compare it to the other competitors." Syaoran looked at Sakura. "You don't trust me?" He asked, with a mad glare. Sakura freaked, and tried to back it up. "Well, just...don't want you to get hurt, that's all..."

Jon rubbed his chin, his face stayed the same. Then he looked up. "Mm, you know, I never thought of that." All three of them (when I say all three, I mean Sakura, Syaoran, and Chocy) dropped dead on the floor followed by a big sweat drop on their heads. Sakura lifted up her head. "How could you not have thought about that??!!" She yelled. "Now what are we going to do!"

"Syaoran will lift the weight the best he could do, that's all I can suggest..." Jon said, scratching his head. Syaoran started to get nervous. "Oh, man..."

~~~~~

"Next!" The arbitrator yelled. All the contestants longed up into three straight lines in the center of the coliseum. Everyone who lined up was stretching; warming up for the weight lift. Three arbitrators were checking people off the list as the contestants failed to lift the weight, one by one. As the line was got shorter, and Syaoran became more nervous. He watched people who are much stronger and bigger than him failed, one by one. It was starting to get to him. He looked at Sakura, who was watching him from the fifth roll of the west wing; she was sitting with Jon and Chocy. Since Chocy is a chocobo, technically he wasn't allowed in the coliseum, but since he wants to watch so desperately, Sakura had decided to use the "Small" card and turn him into a tiny chocobo, fooling the ticket salesman by pretending he's a doll. Sakura would hold him in her arms for the rest of the contest. Sakura looked back at Syaoran and clapped her hands together. She looked even more nervous then he was. All she can do now is to pray.

"Next!" The arbitrator yelled. The moment of truth has come. Yup, it was Syaoran's turn. He swallowed, and walked towards the weight lift. He stood there and staring at it for a moment, then slowly bend down to try and lift it. The arbitrator sighed boringly. He knew a kid like him wouldn't be able to lift something that's ten times of his own weight. Syaoran spitted in his hands, and rubbed them together. Looking like a professional; and lifted the weight with his maximum strength.

Of course, the weight wouldn't budge.

His hands relaxed, still holding onto the weight, he looked up at the arbitrator, who seems ten times taller him, at the time. He grinned. "Just practicing." By then, a big sweat drop already rolled down Syaoran's head. The arbitrator sighed again. "Just make it quick, kid" He said tiredly.

[Oh no...] Sakura thought. Then a light bulb lit up on her head, she put little Chocy on Jon's lap, and ran off. "I'll be right back! Watch Chocy!" Jon watched her as she dashed towards the exit. "Huh?" He said, holding a shrunk size chocobo in his hand.

Sakura walked a few steps into the exit; she can still see Syaoran from where she was. She looked around, made sure no one was watching, and then she took out her key. "Release!" The key turned into a star staff. She reached into her pocket and searched out her cards, removing a particular one out of the deck, she commanded the card quietly. " 'Float'! Go help Syaoran lift the heavy weight." The magic flew out of the exit, and in to the center of the coliseum, where Syaoran was desperately trying to lift the gigantic weight. All of the sudden the weight moved above Syaoran's head, and high into the air. Instead of Syaoran lifting the weight, it's now the weight that had lifted Syaoran's arms. The arbitrator gasped in amazement, and so did everyone else that was watching.

Yet still, it wasn't the perfect plan. The "Float" card had lifted the weight too high, so now Syaoran is hanging in midair. A _huge_ sweat drop ran down his head, and the same goes for everyone else. [Oops!!] Sakura thought, she commanded the card again. " 'Float', too high!"

Just then, Syaoran was back on his feet. _Now_ he looks like he's lifting weight. He grinned again. "Did I pass?"

The arbitrator rubbed his eyes, so did everyone else that saw him floated in the air. They assumed that it was just their own imagination. "Um..." The arbitrator said. "You certainly did!" He checked Syaoran's name on the list, indicated that he passed. Sakura called off the "Float", and the weight dropped on the floor so suddenly, that Syaoran almost dropped down with it. That unexpected movement surprised even the arbitrator. "Ehehe…" Syaoran tried to fool him by smiling. He quickly ran off the demonstration area. "Um...next." the arbitrator said, not so sure that he did the right thing. [Oh well,] Syaoran thought. [the important thing is, I passed.]

~~~~~

They all gathered up in the dressing room. "That was a close one!" Sakura said. She couldn't even stand because of her nervousness.

"Yeah..." Syaoran breathed heavily, "thanks for the help, but next time try to let it down gently."

"I will..." Sakura laid low on the chair.

"Well, at least the worst part is over!" Jon said. "From now on is a piece of cake, right?"

"That's right! Cheer up, Sakura, leave it to me!" Syaoran held his fist up. Sakura looked at him with a tired face, and waved weakly. "Good luck..."

~~~~~

The first match began. Syaoran walked into the coliseum with thousands of audience cheering for him. One of the workers through a rod towards him, Syaoran caught it with his right hand. "This will be your weapon this round." The worker explained. "Watch it, kid, the one that's against you is a real killer." Syaoran nodded, a bit of afraid. He walked to the center of the fighting area.

Sakura was sitting at where she was before and looked nervously at him. Jon patted her shoulder. "Don't worry, he'll be fine." Behind them was a warrior who was all geared up, his armor was golden, and have patterns of some kind of beast, that looks like a fox. He covered his face with his helmet, and looked at Syaoran quietly, leaning beside the exit doorway.

Across from were Syaoran was, a big fat guy was arguing about the weapon. "How do you expect me to fight with this puny little stick?" He yelled at the worker. The worked backed away. The fat guy threw the rod on the ground, and took the supporting pole of the door instead. He yanked it out of its position, and held it like a big rock. He looked more like he was trying to show off his strength than trying to find a better weapon. The audience gasped. "That's right!" The guy yelled. "Be afraid, be very afraid!"

He looked at Syaoran, holding that thin rod, standing there like an ant, ready to get squished. He laughed at his opponent's size. "Ha ha ha... this will be quick."

At the same time, Syaoran was studying him. He weights about two hundreds pound, two meters tall, bald, but not totally with a little black hair at each side of his head. His armor doesn't protect him much, just his chest, and part of his legs and arms. The pole he was holding was so fat, that he had to hold it above his head. Syaoran smiled. "He's right." He said. "This _will_ be quick."

The judge wasn't going to allow the fat guy to use a supporting pole of the coliseum's door way, but after Syaoran said it was fine, the judge let him go. Sakura got worried. "What? What is Syaoran doing? He's going to have a big disadvantage if that guy use a much bigger pole!" The helmeted warrior behind her smiled. "That's smart." Sakura heard what him say, and looked from her shoulder. She saw him standing there calmly. [...Who is he?] Sakura thought.

The judge raised the flag, and yelled. "Start!" The fat guy charged towards Syaoran. "You're mine!" Syaoran smiled. He jumped sky high, the fat dude missed, almost lost his balance. Syaoran landed on his head, "Hi-ya, baldy." The fat guy grew furious, and use the pole to try and hit him.

Syaoran gently hopped out of the way. The fat dude missed and hit his own head. The whole stadium was filled with laughter. The fat guy got even madder, and threw the whole pole at Syaoran. Syaoran used his rod, and smashed the pole into half. All the audience cheered, Sakura was surprised that a rod like that can destroy a pole like that. The masked contestant, however, wasn't surprised at all. The fat guy stared at Syaoran. "How could it be? That was much bigger than your puny little rod!" Syaoran wield his rod around. "The material that this rod was made up of steel, which is much stronger than your stupid pole. Why do you think they chose this as one of the contestant's weapon?" He stopped wielding. "Maybe you shouldn't have thrown away your weapon after all. Now what are you going to battle with?"

"Dame you!" The fat guy charged towards him again, Syaoran held his rod in position, and when he came close enough, Syaoran smacked his head with the rod without even moving out of his position. The fat guy got dizzy, and fainted in front of Syaoran. Everyone in the stadium cheered. Sakura jumped up and down with Chocy in her arms. The warrior behind her smiled again. "Great job." Sakura heard him say again. She turned to looked around, but he was gone.

Syaoran took off his helmet in the dressing room, he sighed. "Phew..." Sakura came up to greet him with a big hug. "You were awesome, Syaoran! You nailed that guy!" Syaoran blushed, and said. "It wasn't that hard, it's just that, well, people were staring from 360 degrees at once. So..." Sakura let go of him, still smiling. "But you still did a great job!" Then the image of the masked worrier hits her. "Oh, by the way...I saw someone back there when I was watching."

"Who?" Syaoran asked.

Sakura shook her shoulders. "I don't know, he was wearing a helmet; I couldn't see his face." Jon came forward. "A helmeted worrier? Is he like," he raised his left hand to around five feet eight high. "This tall?"

Sakura nodded wildly. "That's him!" She moved closer to Jon. "Did you see him, too?" She asked cheerfully. Jon shook his head. "No. Just have a fair idea of who he is, that's all..."

Sakura tilted her head, and her head popped out a question mark. She turned to Syaoran. "Want to watch other contestants fight? Your turn isn't for another hour." Syaoran smiled, and nodded. "Yeah~!" Sakura jumped, and pulled his arm. "This way, come on!"

Other contestants put up great fights, too. They all cheered, and watch for who might be the victor, and discussed what would Syaoran do if he faces them. They watched for five rounds, and then the helmeted warrior appeared!

"That's him!!" Sakura yelled. "That was the warrior that was watching you, Syaoran!" Syaoran nodded, and then paid attention back to the fight. At this round, they had to use a spear to fight. The helmeted warrior's opponent took the first attack, and rushed towards him. The helmeted warrior blocked it with his spear, spinning it in a certain angle, making his opponent lost his spear. The helmeted warrior pointed the spear at the opponent's neck. The fight was over in less then five seconds. Sakura and Syaoran watched in amazement. "Wow..." They exclaimed. Jon just stood there, as if it was what he had expected.

"He should've won, he has been the strongest warrior in the P.H.H. fighting competition ever since five years ago." Jon said. Everyone was cheered all at once; it was hard to hear the judge announcing that the helmeted warrior won. Syaoran smiled. "I think it would be very interesting when we meet."

~~~~~

The gang walked back in to the dressing room, on the way, they bumped into the helmeted warrior. "Hey." He said under his helmet. Sakura and Syaoran looked at him. "Hey." Syaoran replied. "We've been watching you, that was a great fight." Sakura, however, felt a bit uncomfortable talking to such an armed stranger.

The warrior giggled. "That was nothing. I've been watching you, too. You also did a great job."

"You're too nice." Syaoran smiled. "I'm looking forward to fight you. I think that would be one heck of a fight."

"Me too." The warrior said, even though the helmet covered his face, you could tell from his words that he was smiling. "Don't lose before we meet, okay?" He said.

"Same to you." Syaoran replied. He held out his hand. "I guess we haven't introduce ourselves yet."

"Oh, I know who you are, Li Syaoran." The warrior said. Sakura gasped, she couldn't keep her mouth shut anymore. "How'd you know his name?"

"Easy, I've been paying attention to the scoreboard. Maybe you would like to check it out, too, you know, to see when will we meet?" He started to walk away, "See you in the ring." He walked down the hallway and disappeared.

Sakura and Syaoran followed the warrior's advice and look into the scoreboard. "Syaoran...Syaoran, oh, there you are!!" Sakura said. Pointing to the scoreboard. "But...who was that helmeted warrior?"

Syaoran pointed his finger up. "He was the one who won on the fifth round after me, right? So..." He started counting. "One...two...three...four...there he is! On the twentieth round, winner: Gullian." Sakura looked at the name. "Is that his name?"

Syaoran shook his head, I'm not sure, it should be, if we counted it correctly."

"Wait!" Sakura shouted. "Let's see, if you win in the next round, and if he wins..." She started to trace the lines with her finger. She gave her conclusion. "You guys will meet in the final round!!"

~~~~~

Winning one by one, the whole competition was beginning to become Syaoran and Gullian's world, each and every fight they came up against was over and done with quickly. All the audiences were waiting for the moment when the two of the meet. Sakura was glad that Syaoran's name was moving up one step at a time, but she got more worry when Gullian's name was, too. Watching him battle, Sakura know that it won't be easy for Syaoran to fight him. Like Syaoran said, it would be one heck of a fight.

The moment had finally came for them to fight at the final round. Everyone cheered wildly. Sakura's heart was beating very fast. She put her hands together and prayed. [Please be all right, Syaoran, I don't care whether you win or lose but please, please don't hurt yourself!] Little Chocy looked at Sakura, and put its little wings together and prayed, too.

The worker of the coliseum handed them their weapons. "This is the last fight of the competition, therefore we'll do something hard." He handed a big sword to Syaoran. "We'll use a sword."

Syaoran jumped up. "Yes, my specialty!" Gullian (Still wearing his helmet) overheard him. "Really?" He asked. "Mine is, too. I guess this will be interesting."

Syaoran smiled. "I hope so."

The judge raised his hand, everything was silenced at that moment, "Ready…" then his hand came down. "Start!" They ran forward at the same time, Gullian raised his sword, and attacked Syaoran with all his strength. Syaoran blocked it with his, and returned an attack himself. They were rallying; all the audience cheered, except Sakura, every hit they rallied made her heart beat faster.

It was a long fight, they went back and forth, Syaoran swept the sword under Gullian's legs, Gullian jumped, and while he was in the air, he raised his sword high, ready to hit him from the top, Syaoran rolled out of the way, and got into position. He sent the sword directly towards Gullian, but Gullian used his own sword to slightly change its direction, missing him by only an inch. They both took a step back, and then at they attacked at the same time. Their blades hit, and made a sharp metal sound. Neither of them went back, they were both pushing their sword forward, holing the same position with the swords scraping each other only a few centimeters in front of their faces, it was now a battle of strength.

"You're not bad, kid." Gullian said. "But you're still a bit young for this." Suddenly he twisted his sword, making Syaoran's sword turn the other way. Syaoran's hand wasn't strong enough to hold it anymore, the sword flew out of his hand, sending him back, landing on the ground, his sword landed blade first around five meters away from him. Sakura jumped up on her seat, making Chocy, who was on her lap, fell on the ground. "SYAORAN!!" She yelled.

Gullian pointed the sword to his neck. The battle was over.

"And just like last year, our princess, Gullian is the champion!" The judge yelled. Syaoran jerked. Sakura couldn't believe her ears. "Princess??" They both said. 

Gullian took off her helmet. Smooth black hair flew in the wind; her beautiful eyes sparkled like a pair of blue diamonds. "You didn't know that?" She asked. "I thought you were too young to be in the this competition..."

"Um..." Syaoran said, "I might be young, but I still came all the way to the last round."

"No," she said. "Too young to marry me."

Syaoran's face turned bright red. "Ma...marry!??" Gullian looked at him. "I guess you didn't know that. This competition is for my marriage, who ever wins me, can marry me."

"Marry? Oh...JOOOOOOOOOOONN~!!" Syaoran yelled.

~~~~~

"We get into the castle? Didn't we?" Jon said as all four of them walked down the pathway of the castle. Princess Gullian was going to invite only Syaoran, because she wanted to know more about the talented young warrior; but since the rest of the gang stuck to him like super glue. The princess had no choice but to bring all of them all into the castle. "So, you are a traveler?" She asked as she led them into the castle.

"Yeah." Syaoran answered. "I'm very interested in sword fighting techniques." They kept talking about sword fighting techniques, that they've completely ignored the party at the back. Jon asked quietly. "Syaoran sure puts up a great act, striking her into a conversation can increase the chance of us staying at the castle." Sakura shook her head. "He's not acting, that's just Syaoran. He's very into sword fighting, magic spells. And not to mention ancient myths." She looked at him in a very desirable way.

"Some guy he is. I'm more into stealing, and adventures..." Jon swan his arms around. Sakura sighed, "You'll never get it, it's no wonder that you're still single." She walked away from him.

The princess turned around to facethem all. "So, why don't you stay for a while, I can teach you all kinds of sword fighting techniques." Jon and Sakura's ears moved. [Right on!] They thought. They practically jumped on Syaoran's head to answer so eagerly. "We'd love to!!" They shouted together. Syaoran was sinking lower and lower because of the weight. "You...guys...that's very impolite..." He managed to say. The princess giggled. "Of course, all of you are welcome."

~~~~~

The next morning, when penguin birds (a kind of Ometin animal that looks like a penguin but is able to fly) sang peacefully; Jon was sneaking around in the hallway beside the garden with a big bag behind him. He moved quietly, tip-toed around the castle.

Suddenly, someone tapped him from behind. He quickly turned around, and yelled ever so loudly. "I didn't do it!" He said as he thrusted two hands in front of his face, preparing for a punch in the face.

It was Sakura who tapped him. He signed, "It's you, Sakura." He used his sleeve to wipe out his sweat on his forehead. Sakura looked into is bag while he did that. Jon quickly turned around. "Oh, hey..." Sakura took out a vest made of gold and a silver statue. She looked at him angrily. "You were stealing again!"

"Um..." Jon said. Big drop of sweat rolled down his head. All he could think of was, "I didn't do it!" He yelled.

Sakura used the statue to smack his head. "When will you ever learn!?"

Jon rubbed his bump on his head. "Oww...why weren't you with Syaoran?"

Sakura stood up. "He's...busy." A shade of red ran across her face. "?" Jon tilted his head.

~~~~~

A sharp metal sound sliced through the quite morning air. Swords were colliding together in the garden. Syaoran was practicing sword techniques with Gullian. Sakura and Jon watched them from above the balcony at the second floor. "So that's where he is." Jon said. Sakura sighed. "He's been there all morning. When I woke up, he wasn't at his room anymore."

Jon turned to look at Sakura. "What's wrong with that?" He asked. Sakura shook her head. "There's nothing wrong with that."

"Then why do you seen so down?" Jon asked again. He looked back at Syaoran.

Gullian put away her sword, "Now, try it with that dummy." She pointed towards the wooded log that had a sword tide to it. Syaoran practiced a few move on it. Gullian moved close to him. "When you slice his hand, in order for you opponent to drop his weapon, you'll have to hold it like this." She used her right hand to hold Syaoran's right hand. "Then, to have better defense, your left arm should go like this." She planted her left hand on his, and placed her hand on his shoulder. Her face was awfully closed to his. Syaoran swallowed, his face was red. "Um...okay." He could felt every breath she took.

On the balcony, Sakura was staring them with a very annoyed look. Jon caught her expression. "Oh, I see." He smiled. Sakura laid her head on the handle of the balcony, and puffed her cheeks. "She can just tell him, she doesn't have to do it physically..." Jon smiled evilly. He knew what she was thinking. "I think someone is jealous." Sakura looked at him with a red face. "I am not jealous!"

"Anyways, come on, we've got to go." Jon started to walk away.

"What?" Sakura turned around. "Where?"

Jon waved his hand. "To investigate, of course. Aren't we here to find out what the governor is up to?"

Sakura looked back. "But...what about Syaoran?"

"What about him? He's busy, isn't he? Oh come on, don't be jealous. This is the reason we get to stay, is for him to get some practice with the princess." Sakura understood, but it just doesn't seem right, leaving Syaoran here.

"Now...to have a more effective impact on the enemy, you'll have to draw you sword ever so quickly..." Gullian continues her lesson with Syaoran. Sakura made the face again, then ran off to meet up with Jon. [Fine, I can bust the missioner's plan all by myself!]

~~~~~

Three days had gone by. Syaoran was always practicing with Gullian. The only time Sakura got to see him was during meals and before they go to sleep. Sakura always go to the balcony to watch him, but she always seems to catch Syaoran and Gullian making contacts. Sakura's anger grew everyday. Jon and Sakura had search everywhere during the past few days, but they still have no sign of the governor. "What do you think he's up to?" Sakura asked Jon, for the hundredth time. Jon's sneaking skills was good. Because of him, they've been to quite a lot of forbidden area. Sometimes he even comes out with a souvenir or two in his pockets. But still, no clues on the governor.

On the fourth day, both of them were getting tire. "Where have we _not_ been to, yet?" Sakura asked tiredly, they were backed at the balcony again. Jon held out the map. "Well, let's see..." He checked a few place off. "We've done the east wing, north and south wing, and the west wing, so the only place left, would be...chicken wing." He joked. Sakura threw her shoe at him. "Come on, be serious!"

"Okay, okay. To tell you the truth, we've been to every single corner in this castle. I don't know what's left."

"Oh, no..." Sakura wined.

Down at the garden, Gullian talked quietly. "Your friends are always here to see you." She said, pretending she didn't see them. Syaoran kept practicing. "They're okay."

Something hit Sakura. "Hey...we've been all over the castle, be we have no sign of the king himself." Jon thought hard. "Comes to think of it..."

"Could the king be hiding from us?"

Jon put his hand on his chin. "Why would he?"

"Maybe someone don't want us to find him, someone like the governor?"

"Let's go find him, then." Jon ran out to the hallway, on the way, he bumped in to a servant. "Oh, I'm sorry!" He said. Then he realized there were a several servant behind her. She stood up. "That's okay." She replied. Then she turned around, and ordered. "Come on, let's get the food down to the basement." Jon over heard it. "There's a basement in this castle?"

The servant looked at him. "Yes, there are two basements. On for food storage, and the other for old used weapons which no one use anymore."

Jon kept on asking. "Where can we get to the basement?"

"Well, you can get to the food storage by the door in the kitchen. The other one you'll have to access it from outside. It's around the grass field in the west wing. It's hard to see, because it's covered in weeds. But no one use it anymore."

[So that's why we didn't see it when we went to the west wing!] Sakura thought. "Come on, Jon!" She said. Jon nodded, then they headed to the west wing.

At the same time, in the garden, Syaoran and Gullian were practicing while the king arrived with the governor, followed by two knight hoods. "Father!" Gullian said, shocked by their appearance. "Um..." Syaoran jerked. "Your majesty!" He kneeled before him.

"You can raise now." He said to Syaoran. Syaoran followed, then that's when he realized it: there was something wrong with him, something...uncertain about his tone.

"What's the rush, father, why do you want to see me so suddenly?"

"I've decided to let you marry Governor Hruggia here." The governor bowled. The princess couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Father, what on earth are you talking about? We agreed that who ever wins the P.H.H. fighting competition could marry me. You know how I feel about weak men! And this gentleman here can barely hold a sword!" She pointed at the governor.

The governor felt insulted, but he backed it up. "But this is the king's words, his wish is my command." He smiled. Gullian pushed him out of the way, and went straight for her father. "Father! What's wrong with you, you must be kidding me! How could you decide on such a thing so suddenly with out even informing me?" She shook him. "Father! Answer me!"

That's when Syaoran saw it. [The bracelet! It's controlling him!] The bracelet was swing back and forth on the right hand, covered by his long sleeve. Syaoran went forward. "Do you mind if I talk to him?" He asked Gullian. Gullian didn't know what else to do, so she let him. But when Syaoran got close enough, he drew out his sword like lightning, and slashed the king's right hand!

"Syaoran, what are you doing!?" Gullian yelled. All the knights rushed up, and pointed their swords towards Syaoran all at once. Syaoran dropped his weapon. Suddenly the king acted like he just woke up. "Huh? What? What am I doing here?"

"Father?" Gullian went up to him. "Are you okay?" the king looked at her. "My daughter, what happened to me?" Gullian stepped on the shattered bracelet. She picked up on piece. "You were wearing this."

The king blinked, "That? Governor Hruggia gave me that. Oh, now I remember. Governor Hruggia asked me for your marriage, I denied it, and then he present this gift to me." Syaoran tried to move forward, by the knights stopped him. He yelled. "That thing was controlling you! That's why you don't remember a thing."

The king looked at Gullian. "Is that true?" Gullian nodded. "You even told me to marry Hruggia."

"Oh, goodness!" He looked at Hruggia. "Arrest that man!" But he already started to run for it. Syaoran tried to follow him, but two knights who stayed behind and guard Syaoran stopped him. "Let me go! Can't you see that I was just trying to..."

At the same time, Jon showed up along with Sakura showed up. "Syaoran, I found a whole bunch of missioner's bracelet in the basement of west wing...what's going on?" Just then, the bracelet pieces in Gullian's hand exploded. A missioner's soul came out, and went in to Sakura's necklace. "Hoe...? Did something just happened?"

"Sakura! Go find the missioner; he's heading to that way!" He pointed. Sakura nodded, then followed the direction he was pointing, Jon ran along with her.

Once she got to a distance where no one can see, she pulled out her card and her key. "Release!" she commanded. Then she used the jump card, leaving Jon way behind. "Hey~! Wait up!"

When she got to a close enough distance, she could see the governor turn around. "Okay, you asked for it! My creations! Let's go!" He waved his hand. A whole bunch of penguin birds appeared, and started to attack Sakura, using their beaks. Jon finally caught up with her. "Okay, Sakura, oh, what the…?!" Penguin birds flew towards him, too. "Yaaahhh!!!" He yelled, knocking a few of them down. "Don't hit them! All of them are under the bracelets' control!" Sakura yelled. She used her cards again. "Sword!" She jumped around; cutting their bracelets that was place around their neck.

At the same time, Syaoran and Gullian was riding Chocy. "I though those guys would never let me go!" He said. They were rushing to the scene of the crime as fast as they could…or as fast as Chocy can run.

Sakura was almost done with all the penguin birds when they arrived. "Last one..." She carefully cut the bracelet with out harming the penguin bird at all. The bird flew free, and flew out of her sight. She turned to the governor. "And ask for you...! You are the one who created these terrible bracelets that control people, aren't you!" She pointed the sword towards him. The governor was shaking, he tried to find more bracelets, but he couldn't. Jon appeared, he held out at least ten bracelets in his hands. "looking for these?" He said, grinning.

"Wha...I don't know what you're talking about!" the governor said.

"That tattoo on your neck says it all," She moved her sword back. "You're one of them!!" She jumped, and sliced the tattoo with one hit. The governor vanished, and his soul was sucked into the crystal.

She sat on the ground, then sighed. "Phew…" Syaoran walked up to her, and patted her shoulder. Gullian made a comment. "You know, your sword technique was horrible." Sakura got angry, her vein popped out on her head. Gullian turned her face to one side. "But...you did a great job."

Sakura blushed on the comment. She looked at Syaoran. Syaoran smiled, and nodded. "She's right. You did do a great job." Sakura ginned, and giggled.

~~~~~

"Alright, we've got to go." Jon said, they were all standing in front of the castle, ready to leave. Gullian looked at Jon's big baggage. "Do you want a hand on that?" Jon yanked it up his shoulder. "No." He answered it a microsecond after she asked him. "I'll be...fine." He said, starting to leave with the big bag. Sakura and Syaoran stayed a bit longer to say good-bye. "I'll remember what you taught me." Syaoran said gratefully. Gullian shook her head. "Don't worry, it's not that important." She turned to Sakura, and lightly brushed her hair. "This girl taught me that it's not the technique that counts, it's what you're fighting for that's important." Sakura blushed, and lowered her head.

"Hey!" Jon yelled. I'm going to leave with out you~!" Sakura and Syaoran turned around. "Coming!" They both shouted. Sakura ran a head. Syaoran bowled to the princess, then ran after them.

When they got to about fifty meters away, a servant came rushing to Gullian, "You majesty, a lot of decorations in the castle is gone, I think someone took them!" Gullian was surprised. "What!?"

~~~~~

When they got out of the city, the road divided into two paths. Jon pointed to the left one. "If you want to go to the missioner's hide out, you should take this path." Then he started to walk to the right path. "For me, I'll take this path."

Sakura looked like she missed him already. "You're not coming with us?" She asked. Jon shook his head. "No, I'm taking a different path. I don't intent to stay at a place for too long. I'm very nomadic." He walked closer to Sakura and Syaoran. "But who knows. Our paths might be different, but you'll never know when we will meet up again. After, I am the legendary heroes' helper. It's my fate, remember?" he winked, and then turned around. "So long!" He started to walk away.

Sakura and Syaoran looked at his back for a while. "I think we'll see him again, don't you?" Syaoran asked. Sakura nodded wildly. "Uh! That is if he won't get caught on stealing and has to go to jail." They both laughed.

"Wark!" Chocy said, indicating that they should go now. "Alright, we're coming." Sakura said. They jumped on Chocy, and headed to the left path, hoping that they'll meet Jon again, some day...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Yup, yup, longest chapter ever!  
That's why it took sooooooo long!!! And plus all the bonus pictures, man is this long or what!   
Anyway, when I say "Hoping they'll meet Jon again." Believe me, they will! Fate here (author), have already decided.  
Till then, see you in the next chapter! ^^

Piggy Ho Ho


	13. Syaoran's SUPER BIG Accident

Scream, people, scream, 'cause here comes chapter 13!

~~~~~

_"I'll fight till the end for the sake of you safety…"_

**CCS: The Legend of Ometin**

Chapter 13

~~~~~

A warm breeze blew on Sakura and Syaoran's faces as they rode on Chocy, who was walking on a grassy plain. Sakura took a deep breathe of the clean air, and commended, "How refreshing~! Back in Japan, all the air is polluted."

"Yeah…" Syaoran smiling as he replied. Then all of a sudden, out of no where Syaoran sneezed. Sakura was surprised. "Hoe…? What's wrong?" She asked. Syaoran used his hankie to wiped his nose. "Um…I don't know…" He blinked.

They walked for another mile. Finally, a shape of a town began to appear on the horizon, they charged excitedly towards it. From a distance, the whole town looks very colourful, as they found out why. "Wow…" They all exclaimed.

The town was filled with flowers; they were on the walls of houses, in the garden, along the streets, and even on top of the roof. A girl came to greet them. "Welcome to Flowerville, the place of flowers. Here, have a flower necklace." She put one ring on Sakura's neck; Sakura blushed as she thanked her. The girl tried to put the other one around Syaoran's neck, but as fast as the flowers reached him, he started sneezing, non-stopped. "(Sneeze) What…(Sneeze) what the heck is going on?? (Sneeze) (Sneeze) (Sneeze)"

Sakura looked at the flower ring in the girl's hand. "It's the pollen! Quick, get the flower necklace away from him!" Syaoran's eyes were getting watery. He managed to open one eye. "I…(Sneeze) never knew that I have allergies! (Sneeze) I had always been fine in Tokyo! (Sneeze)" Sakura looked at him. "Well, maybe you're just allergic to Ometin flowers." She walked closer to him. "Are you okay?" Syaoran saw the flower ring around her neck, and immediately backed up. "No! Don't come any closer."

Sakura made a puppy-dogface. "What…I was just concerned about you…you're mean…"

A big sweat drop rolled down Syaoran's head. He sneezed some more. "It looks like that this isn't a place for me…(Sneeze)" The girl stood beside them with her hand on her cheek. She didn't know what to do, nothing like this had happened to her before. Just then, an older women came by, she was dressed in a short, white cape, and a mini skirt, she looked around 17-18, and has brownish hair that's tied into a ponytail behind her head. "What's wrong?" She asked.

The girls looked around, and found the help she was searching for. "Oh, Blossica, your timing is perfect! These kids here need help!" Blossica looked at the two strangers that were standing behind her. She covered her month. "Oh my!" She walked closer to them. "What's wrong?"

Syaoran sneezed some more. "(Sneeze) Allergies…" It was hard for him to even talk because of his symptoms; his throat was killing him.

"Oh…I heard of this." Blossica said. The girl behind her asked. "What is that?" She explained. "That's a sickness that reacts with the flowers' pollens. We don't have it, because we've been here since we're born, but it's very common for travelers."

"What should we do?" Sakura asked.

"I'll bring you to a clinic, Dr. Boohig should know what to do." Blossica said cheerfully.

~~~~~

In the middle of the town was an old shop that has shelves made on the walls. Inside the shelves were dried plants that are used for medical purpose; some have very strong smells that filled the room with a weird odor. Dr. Boohig carried a three steps ladder to the bottom of a shelf; his movement was slow and clumsy; everyone would be after living more than a whole century. His life is longer then the beard on his chin.

He stepped on the ladder, one step at a time; he tried to reach the dried plant at the top of the shelf. His rankled hands lifted upwards, attempting to reach it. The ladder was wiggling, and having one leg shorter then the other wasn't helping.

Just then, a young girl came in from the back door. She had hair tied to the back of her head in a very unique way that seems like a flower blossoming. She was about the height and the age of Sakura, she had been helping out Dr. Boohig for a while now. "I'm back." She called. "I got some Figia grass and…oh, goodness, what are you doing, Doctor?" She ran to hold him in his arms to keep him steady. Dr. Boohig slowly came down the ladder. "Don't worry," He said with a warm smile. "I've been doing this for my whole life, so it wasn't much of a challenge."

"You might be a doctor, but you don't seems to concern too much for yourself!" The young women walked him to a chair, where he sat down, and started to prepare the dried plant he got from the shelf. "I'll be fine," He said. "It's just that when you get old, your body don't function like the way they used to anymore, it's a natural thing."

The young lady laughed. "Doctor...you made it sound like you're going to die any second." Dr. Boohig turned to her. "Who knows, we'll never know what will happen. What I'm really worried about is not me, though, it's those town people I'm worried about. I'm the only doctor in town, if anything happens to me, then who will take care of them while I'm not around? I don't have any sons or daughter to pass my skills to." The lady laughed again. "Doctor…"

"But..." He said. "I was lucky enough to have you. You have been here for only four months and you already know all about the medical plants. I'm leaving everything to your hands." He held her soft hands in his, patting it softly.

"…Sure thing, doc." She said, there was sadness in her eyes.

Just then, the door opened. "Um…Dr. Boohig, are you there?"

The young girl went a head to assist them, Dr. Boohig walked slowly after her. When she got closer to the doorway, she heard a whole bunch of sneezes. "Woe." She said. "What's wrong with him?"

Sakura and Syaoran arrived after Blossica. Syaoran's eyes were getting too watery to open. He kept sneezing. Dr. Boohig came to them. "Another person with allergies again?" He asked. Blossica smiled. "Yeah…"

"I can't treat him here." Dr. Boohig said. "I'll need to go to the aqua room to treat him." He turned around. "Yoki, you want to get my stuffs?"

"Yes, doctor." The young lady obeyed.

"We'll need to move to another area." Dr. Boohig said.

~~~~~

They came to this part of the town where there's no flower, instead, there's a long, pointy crystal that stretches all the way to the sky with little crystals surrounding it, the little crystals caved in to form a beautifully shaped cave. The whole area is filled with this fresh breeze, Sakura heard noises coming out of the cave, she walked ahead to see what it was.

She was amazed by what she saw, around halfway up the long pointy crystal was a symbol, she has seen this symbol before, but where…? But what amazed her even more, was that pure water is coming out of the symbol, forming a waterfall, and then drifted out the cave as a big, huge river. "Wow…" She exclaimed, stretching out her arms to feel the breeze created by the water hitting on the river. Chocy ran up to the river, and took a sip of water.

"This is so cool." She said. "What is it?"

Blossica walked up to her. "It's our water source, the Aqua Stream." She said, admiring the beautiful scene. "It was a gift for the Samians, the creature that rules the sea."

"Hoe?" Sakura said. So that's why she saw the symbol before, it was the same as the one on Princess Zeldiac's castle of Sami City (Read Chapter 10).

Blossica continued. "Before they present this gift to use, this place was a complete dry land, no creature could survived around this area." She went ahead to touch the fresh water in the river.

"Wow…" Sakura exclaimed again, it was hard to believe that this whole town was once a dry land that nothing can live in. Now this place is filled with flowers all over the place. "Your people must've really appreciated this gift." Blossica turned around to face her. "What?"

"Well, it's just that..." Sakura said, a little embarrassed. "You guys really did a great job of lighting up this place." Blossica smiled.

"Come into this room, please." Dr. Boohig was in front of an even smaller cave next to the waterfall. There was a piece of old cloth hanging on the entrance, making the entrance half covered, it kind-of serves as a door. Syaoran went in to the entrance, inside the cave was surprisingly neat, it's almost as if it was a man made room with walls of crystal. There was a little bed inside, and a stool beside it. "This is the most pure area of the town, away from all the pollen that can infect you. I often use it to treat patient with allergies. Now, let us begin our treatment, lay down on that bed over there." He said, as Yoki put the bag of medicine on the stool.

Syaoran swallowed, he felt like the old man is going to dissect him. He doesn't like the idea of a strange doctor treating him in a strange country, in a strange world. Then again, he never liked the doctors in Japan either. He walked slowly towards the bed, and lied on it. He took a deep breath [I guess this is going to work, I mean, I haven't sneeze since I came in.]

Dr. Boohig turned to Blossica and Sakura. "This might take a while, why don't you girls go outside, and sit down for a moment?" Blossica looked at Sakura. "Why don't I take you out to show you around the town?" She offered. Sakura hesitated. "But, Syaoran..."

Blossica giggled. "Don't worry." She said. "We'll be back before they finish the treatment." Blossica started pushing her out. "Come on." She said.

Dr. Boohig paid his attention back to Syaoran. "Now, let us begin. Yoki, give me the black hole dust."

Syaoran jerked. "Bla…black hole? What are you going to do with a black hole?"

"Calm down!" Yoki slapped his forehead lightly as she walked pass him to give Dr. Boohig the bag of dust. "Ouch!" Syaoran said. "Don't be so rough."

"Don't worry, we're not going to suck you in a black hole." The Doctor joked. He took some dust out of the bag, and sprinkled some over Syaoran's body, moving his hand in a circular direction while he did so. The dust made a little swirl in the air slowly drop on Syaoran, when the last dust dropped, it gathered up rapidly, forming a glowing flat spirally surface that stays in the air. In the middle of the surface was a little portal that sinks in; under the portal was a thin line that looks almost as if it's connecting the portal to Syaoran's chest. The whole figure looks like a black hole in space, or a thin, but big tornado.

"Wow…"Syaoran said. "It's pretty, but how is this suppose to help me?"

"This is just serving as a doorway to your body, we'll start dumping in medical materials." Yoki said, as she handed Dr. Boohig some grass shaped plants that are blue. The doctor pilled some, and dropped it into the black hole dust. The bits of grass stayed in the air on top of the black hole for a second, then it started to dissolve into even smaller pieces that glows, and drained down the little portal. The little bits of glowing grass twisted down and around the thin thread, and finally into Syaoran's chest.

"See that? That's how we inject the medical material into you." Dr. Boohig said.

"I preferred not to look at such a scene…" Syaoran complained. Yoki showed an angry face. "Then why don't just put you to sleep using some sleeping herbs?" She walked closer to him, but Dr. Boohig backed her up. "Calm down, Yoki." He said. Yoki made a noise. "Humph!" Then stumbled outside.

Dr. Boohig looked at Syaoran. "Please excuse her, she has such a short temper. She really is a nice person." He continued with the treatment, putting more medical material into the black hole.

"Just who is she, I mean to you. You guys look like grandpa and granddaughter, but she calls you 'doctor'." Syaoran asked.

"She's not my relative. Three months ago, I found her wounded in a forest outside the town. I treated her with care. She seems to be very interested in medical, so I decided to teach her. She began to become my assistance; she gets better at it everyday. I really think that she's going to take my place when I die." He laughed to himself. Syaoran smiled. "I have no daughter," Dr. Boohig continued. "Nor family, I'm really glad that I'm lucky enough to have someone to pass my skill on to." He smiled brightly to Syaoran. "I really treat her as a granddaughter that I never had."

Outside the room, Yoki stood, leaning on the wall next to the entrance. She had been listening to his words. "……" her face slightly blushed. "Sorry, doctor." She whispered to herself quietly. ~~~~~

"There's the shop I usually put my seeds in, there's the farm that produce the most of the town's food…" Blossica said as she showed her around. "Which place do you want to go first?"

But Sakura was staring into space, holding on to Chocy. "Hello?" Blossica said. Sakura snapped back to reality. "Huh? Oh, the church."

Blossica almost dropped. "I didn't even mentioned church."

"Oh," Sakura said, she sounds like she was very tired. "That place…then." She pointed to the seeds store. They walked into it, looking at little packages of seeds. "You really miss Syaoran, don't you?" Blossica said. Sakura sighed. "Not miss…just…worry."

"When you miss a person, you worry about them." Blossica leaned towards her. "Beside, he's just got allergies, how bad could that be?"

"Maybe…" Sakura said, then she heard some "munch munch" noises. She turned to her right, realizing that Chocy was eating the sunflower seeds! "Chocy!" She yelled.

Chocy lifted his head up. {Delicious nuts!} He said, in chocobo language, then "warked" cheerfully. Sakura ran up to stop him. "You use them to grow beautiful flowers, not to eat! If you eat them, they won't grow into flowers!"

{But if you grow them into flowers, I can't eat them anymore…} Chocy made a puppy-dog face with two big watery eyes and a mouth that's shaky. Sakura sighed. "Oh, Chocy…" Blossica laughed.

They left the store. Blossica grabbed her hand. "Let's go."

"To where?" Sakura asked.

Blossica smiled. "To the church, you wanted to see it, don't you?"

"You mean there's really a church." Sakura was surprised at how it turned out, she was just making that up out of nowhere because she wasn't paying attention.

"Of course." Blossica smiled. "This way."

They walked pass stores after stores, residences after residences, and then finally came to this place that on top of a little hill. The building was tall, and in a way, thin. The wall was white, mostly covered with flowers. On top of the roof there was a sign placed at where the cross would usually be. Yet, the sign was not a cross, instead, it was a stick with double circles. Sakura stared at it for a moment. Blossica saw the way she looked at that sign, she smiled. "It's supposed to be the moon and the sun." She explained. Sakura blushed. "Oh, I'm sorry, I was day dreaming again."

Blossica smiled again. "Come in." She led her in. Sakura got in nervously. She was amazed by what she saw. The first thing that caught her attention was the life size silver statue at the end of the hall. It was a beautiful woman that was stretching out her hand; it looks like she was bringing world peace. What was weird was that she looks like Shi Shi, but older.

Sakura seems like she was being drawn by the statue. She walked closer to it, and stopped right in front of it. "She is…?" She asked. Blossica walked up next to her. "She's our goddess, the one that sealed the evil monsters from hell." The thought hit Sakura. [Shi Shi's ancestor! No wonder she looks like Shi Shi…]

"She's the one that makes it happen. If it wasn't for her, we'd be living in fire of hell." Blossica said. Sakura put her hand to her month, thinking deeply. She finally asked after a few seconds. "Blossica, do you know the legend?"

Blossica nodded. "Of course, everyone knows. 'The goddess of Ometin sealed the evil demons in hell, everyone lives in peace. But one day the seal broke, and the legendary heroes came to save us from the missions of hell that spread all over Ometin.'"

"Do you know anything about the legendary heroes?" Sakura asked, a bit concerned. Blossica tilted her head, and put a finger to her cheek. "All I heard of, is that they came from another world. It's supposed to be one boy, one girl."

"Why from a different world? Why can't the goddess's posterity save the world?"

"I don't know, maybe they don't have the power they used to anymore. Things change after hundreds of year."

Sakura nodded, she agreed with Blossica, but what she doesn't get is that how come people in Ometin can't help it when the world is at its risk! Why leave the whole baggage to two people who's completely new to Ometin?

"You seem to be quite interested at the pass." Blossica said. "We can't give you that much of information, but I think Togeia might have some information."

"Togetia?" Sakura asked, being unfamiliar with the term.

"If you head south, you'll see it. It's the oldest city in Ometin; they might have some historical documents." Blossica said.

"Wow, thanks, I'll go there!"

~~~~~

"We're back!" Sakura said, charging through the cave entrance. "How's Syaoran?" She asked. Dr. Boohig nodded. "Everything went well, he could go now." Syaoran got up, and jumped of the bed. "But don't forget." Dr. Boohig said. "Come back tomorrow to get another treatment, or the allergies will be back."

"I understand." Syaoran smiled. "Thank you, Doctor." He bowed, and stuck out his tongue to Yoki before he left. Yoki threw a small package of medical herbs on his head. "Oh, how annoying…" She said to herself. "And we'll still have to treat him tomorrow?"

"Why don't you stay at our place?" Dr. Boohig suggested. Yoki looked at him madly. "What?!"

"But we already bothered you enough, we don't want to be to much trouble." Sakura said.

"No trouble at all." Dr. Boohig said. "It'll be in your bill." Sakura slipped a little, "Um…" a sweat drop rolled down her head. "Sounds fair."

Blossica is Dr. Boohig's neighbor. So they all walked home together. Night was falling; sunflowers began to light up the whole place. "Wow…it's so pretty." Sakura said. "Flowers do have a million uses around this place."

"Yes." Blossica said. "These sunflowers are mainly used to light up the streets, for household lightings, we use these smaller ones." She put her hand near a smaller glowing flower. "These are lantern blossoms. We can put them in a bottle and put it in our house. All we have to do is to water them once in a while, and they'll be good for years."

"Really?" Sakura seems hyper now. "What else can you do with flowers?" Sakura asked brightly.

"Well." Blossica said. "We can use the Fire lilies to cook, use some of the 10 feet tall roses' pedals to make clothes,…and…"

said. "You She went on, and Sakura listened to every word. "You're girlfriend seems to be very interested in flowers." Dr. Boohig whispered to Syaoran. Syaoran's face turned pure red. "She's…not my girlfriend."

"Oh, really. Ho ho ho ho…" Dr. Boohig laughed.

"Hey, what's this flower, what does it do?" Sakura went near a daisy with curly leaves. "It has funny looking leaves." She brushed one of them. "Oh no," Blossica warned. "Don't touch its leaves…" but she too late.

_Blast!!_ A whole gallon of water came out of the daisy, and sprayed her head to toe until it runs out of water. "Hoe…?" Sakura exclaimed; a bit surprised by what it did.

"Sakura?" Syaoran ran up to her. "What on earth happened?" Sakura shook her head. "I…don't really know."

Blossica explained. "That's…water daisy…it can holds up to ten gallons of water…we…usually use them to take water from the river and water our plants…"

Sakura sneezed. "Look at you." Syaoran took off his shirt, and covered Sakura with it. "You'll need to get change, let's hurry back." Dr. Boohig said.

~~~~~

Yoki went in to the changing room with her clothes in her arms; Sakura was already inside, waiting. "Here," Yoki can use mine till yours dry up."

"Thank you." Sakura said. Yoki smiled back. "Let me help you put them on." She put the clothes aside. Sakura took of her top.

Just then, Yoki saw it, the bell that contains the crystal. Her chest hurt, she kneeled down painfully. "AAAAHHH!!"

"Yoki?" Sakura tried to help her up, but she refused. "Please, don't come closer!" Sakura obeyed. [Why…?] Yoki thought. [Why would the crystal be here? I can hear the screaming souls of my people! It's the crystal that seals the missioners!]

Syaoran ran into the room. "What's wrong?" Sakura jerked back, and covered her topless body with Yoki's clothes. "AAAAHHH! SYAORAN!!!"

"Ah…ah…" Syaoran blushed furiously. "I…I'm sorry!"

"TURN AROUND!!" Sakura yelled; her face was also red.

"Ah…Oh!" Syaoran turned around quickly. "I…I'm sorry, I wasn't…I mean…I didn't mean to…" "Yoki! She's in pain, I don't know what's going on!" Sakura said.

Just then, Blossica came in. "What's all the screaming about?" She saw Sakura trying to cover her body with clothes and Syaoran standing in front of the door, she gave him a mad glare. "Syaoran!" Them punched him on the head. "How dare you!?"

"No, that's not it!!" Sakura said. "It's Yoki! But thanks for punching him, anyway."

"Yoki!" Blossica helped her up. "I'll take you to Dr. Boohig." She closed the door behind her. Then looked at Syaoran, still standing in front of the door, facing the opposite way. "Well, help out!" She yelled.

"Um…" Syaoran followed. "Right…right." He took Yoki by the other hand.

~~~~~

Dr. Boohig came out of the Yoki's room after examining her. "She'll be fine, but she'll need a good night rest. Can you stay in Blossica's for the night if it isn't too much trouble for her?" He looked at Blossica.

"No trouble at all." She said, looking concern. "Tell Yoki I said hope she get well soon."

"I will." Dr. Boohig bowled, saying good night.

The rest of them headed for Blossica's house. "I hope Yoki's alright." Sakura said. Syaoran agreed. "Yeah…"

~~~~~

Sakura was brushing her hair in her room when someone knocked on the door. "Come in." She said.

It was Syaoran; he came in with his face red. "Um…about what happened back there."

Sakura blushed. "Oh…ah…it was an accident."

"Um, yeah, but I want you to know, I'll never, ever do that on propose!" He put his hands in front of his chest, look as if he was defending himself.

"…I know you wouldn't." She smiled. "But just to make sure!" She mad a grumpy face. "…Did you…see anything?"

Syaoran's face was bright red now. "I…it was dark…so…there wasn't much to see…" " 'There wasn't much to see'??!!" Sakura looked even madder. "Are you saying that I don't have 'the curve' or something?!" "No!!! That wasn't…" Syaoran tried to fix what he said, but it was too late, the words are already in her head.

"I don't want to see you again!!" She threw her pillow in his face. Syaoran held the pillow after it slides off his face. "Sakura~" She pushed him out of the room and locked the door. "Leave!!"

"Sakura~ please forgive me~!!!" He knocked the door again. Sakura took another pillow, and covered her head with it. "Stupid Syaoran…" She whispered to herself.

~~~~~

Inside Yoki's room, she was shifting back and forth in her bed. She got up. [They're the ones…] She thought; hatred began to swamp through her body. [They're the legendary heroes that are destiny to genocide our people!] She shouted her eyes tightly. [I won't let it!]

[Tomorrow shall be the day…] She slowly opened her eyes. [When those two finally fall, and complete my mission as a missioner from hell!]

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Okay! Cliffhanger! So stay tooned!

Piggy Ho Ho


	14. Syaoran's Dead?

With all means, this is chapter 14.

~~~~~

"I'll fight till the end for the sake of your safety..."  
CCS: THE LEGEND OF OMETIN

Chapter 14  
~~~~~

Syaoran stretched as he woke up in the morning. He sleepily scratched his head, and looked around lazily. Rubbing his eyes, he slowly got off his bed, and went over to the window to open the curtain. The bright sun beamed its light into his eyes as he rested his head on the window bar, listening to the chirpings of the little penguin birds. Then came laughter from Dr. Boohig's house. Syaoran leaned forward to peeked into the window, and he saw Sakura chatting with Dr. Boohig.

"Is that really true? Tell me more about these herbs." Sakura asked. Dr. Boohig explained. "Well, these are the ones that I use to heal Syaoran's allergies. This is naison grass, this is beist leaf, and this is slielgn leaves."

Sakura picked one out of the basket. "You mean these?" Dr. Boohig shook his head wildly. "Oh, no no, those are bio herbs, they can make one really sick, it can even cause death."

Sakura looked at the tiny piece of herb. "I can't tell the difference." She rotated the herb in her hand, examining it carefully. Dr. Boohig took it out of her hand, and began comparing it with the slielgn leaves in his hand. "There's a slight difference. The slielgn leaves have seven spikes on each end of the leaf, but bio herbs have six."

Sakura made a face. "Wow...that's hard. What if you got mixed up?" Dr. Boohig looked at her seriously. "We can't get them mix up, it can kill someone." Sakura backed up a little. "That's tough."

Syaoran heard the conversation. He changed hastily, and ran to Dr. Boohig's house.

On his way, he bumped into Yoki. "Oh!" She said, looking at Syaoran. Syaoran looked back, and said. "You feeling better?" Yoki hesitated, and then answered. "I'm okay." She avoided eye contacts. Syaoran smiled. "That's good." Yoki was puzzled. "Why?"

"Why?" Syaoran repeated; it was a weird question. "Because I'm glad that you're healthy." Yoki made a face. "Oh?" She said, "Haven't you always hated me?"

"Um...no, I have nothing against you." Syaoran was a bit confused. He never saw her as an enemy.

"Oh, come on! With the tongue sticking out, and all the teasing." Yoki complained. She still remembered how he acted to her yesterday at the Aqua room.

"That was nothing personal." Syaoran said, his head had a sweat drop; clearly he didn't know how to handle her. "Look, I was just joking around, don't take it seriously. We were just having fun."

"Well! I...um..." Yoki couldn't continued, her face suddenly became hot, and it was hard for her to think. Syaoran let her had her way. "Okay, if it really hurt you that much, I'm sorry. Forgive me?" He said.

Yoki couldn't look at him; her face was red. He was waiting for an answer, so she nodded. She probably didn't mean it, but she just did it to get him out of the way. Syaoran giggled. "Great! Catch you later!" He went past her shoulder, and ran towards the room Sakura was in. For a whole minute, Yoki just stood there; she couldn't understand what was she feeling at the time. Her heart was beating faster than usual, and her head was a blank. [Why do I have this strange feeling? Don't I hate him? He teased me, I hate his guts...so why?] Yoki shook her head, trying to clear her mind. [But...he's one of the legendary heroes! He must go!] She tightened her fist, and then turned to the direction Syaoran ran to. [He shall go first...]

"Now this is for cuts..." Dr. Boohig was still showing Sakura different kinds of herbs when Syaoran came in to the room. "Sakura!" He yelled. The two looked at him surprisingly. He bowled. "Oh, good morning, Dr. Boohig." Dr. Boohig smiled. "Why, good morning Syaoran." But he wasn't really the one Syaoran wanted to talk to. Syaoran eyed Sakura, she made a mad expression, then turned her head the other way, making a "Humph" noise.

Dr. Boohig knew it was time to act. "Um...I'll leave you two alone." He got up, and then walked out of the door. For a second, none of them talked to each other. Syaoran kneeled down beside her. "Sakura..." He said softly, but Sakura shift her body to the opposite direction. Syaoran lowered his head a little, eyes still looking at her. "Are you still mad?" He asked, even though he already knew the answer. Sakura didn't say a word, puffing her cheek; Syaoran took that as a "yes".

"I told you that I didn't mean to do that, you were screaming, so I got worried, I didn't do it on purpose." Syaoran said. "I said sorry last night, didn't I?"

Sakura remained silence. She knew he didn't do that on purpose, she believed that he'd never do that. It wasn't that she was mad about, she was mad about what he said when he came to apologize last night. _"There wasn't much to see..." _The words still ring in her head.

But how could Sakura ever tell him that she's mad because of that? It'll just make things even worst. What does she expect him to do, be grateful that he actually saw it? "I..." Sakura began, Syaoran leaned closer to listen, but Sakura ended the sentence with. "I just...don't want to see you again! Ever!" And slapped him in the face. She stumbled out of the room, leaving Syaoran confused. "What...?" He ran after her, "Wait, Sakura..."

Dr. Boohig came into the room. "Oh, Syaoran, it's time for your treatment." Syaoran looked at him. "But..."

"Come on, no time to spare." Dr. Boohig pushed him out of the door. "Now, we'll have to treat you. Let's find Yoki and we'll all go to the Aqua room together. Syaoran was forced out of the room. "But I...but..."

~~~~~

"Then he said, 'there wasn't much to see'!!" Sakura was rephrasing Syaoran's words to Blossica while she watered her flowers. "He said that?" Blossica asked.

"Yeah!" Sakura said. "I mean, how could he, after what he did to me!" Blossica smiled. "I think you're thinking too much, things might not be like that at all." Sakura looked at her with self-pity eyes. "Blossica~ you're supposed to be on my side!" Blossica shook her head. "I'm neutral." Sakura puffed her face. "But it's his fault!"

Blossica stood up, and grinned. "I don't think Syaoran will ever have the courage or the heart to peek in the dressing room while you're dressing, and I don't think what he said last night was exactly what you rephrased either. He might've said, 'The light was dime, so there wasn't much to see.' He meant that the light was dime, so he couldn't see anything, so don't worry." Blossica giggled. "He just did a bad job of saying it, that's all."

Sakura had a flash back, and thought to herself, [Well...he did say something about the light...]

Sakura blushed. "I...I don't like him!"

Blossica giggled again, she likes it when they do that. "Just don't over react over small things, I think you should apologize." Sakura lowered her head. "How could I...after what I said..." Blossica looked at her. "What did you say?" Sakura looked up. "A lot of things, mean and nasty, too. But what's worst is that I said I don't want to see him again, ever." Blossica smiled, she didn't think it was that bad. "Sakura, people get mad, and they say things that they don't mean to. I'm sure if you apologize, he'll forgive you."

Sakura made a mad face again. "Why should I be the one who apologize? It was his fault, too!" Blossica kneeled in front of her. "But didn't he already apologize?" Sakura looked away, Blossica continued. "Look, this fight will never end if you don't back up. You'll have to know having a relationship with someone as slow as him will never go anywhere unless you take the first step!"

"We're not having a relationship!" Sakura yelled, face furiously red. Blossica turned around and walked away before she even finished. "Well, my part is done, it's up to your for what to do." She waved, and walked back into the house. Sakura lowered her head. [How can I begin...? How do I even talk to him after what I said?]

~~~~~

Yoki stepped on the three-steps ladder, and collected herbs Dr. Boohig needed in to a basket, she was grabbing herbs out of the tall shelf while Sakura came in. Sakura seemed blue, so Yoki stopped what she was doing, and asked her what's wrong. "Boy, you look down. Are you worried about him? It's just allergies, it wouldn't kill him." Sakura sighed. "No, I'm not a bit worried about that, it's something else that I'm worried about."

"Not even a bit?" Yoki asked, with a face. Sakura blushed a little, and then answer madly, "Alright fine, maybe a bit. But that wasn't why I was so down!" Yoki couldn't help but laughed. "Oh, come on, be honest with yourself for once."

"I...I..." Sakura didn't know what to say at the moment; she sat down at the steps on the ladder. Yoki smiled, "Doesn't it hurt you to hide the truth all the time?" Sakura shook her head. "No, sometimes it's better if the truth never reveals." Yoki sat down next to her. "You're not planning to tell him?"

"How could I, I'm not even sure myself!" Sakura stated. Yoki lowered her head, "If you don't say it now, you might never be able to." She said quietly, thinking of what she was planning to do. "Hoe?" Sakura looked at her curiously. Yoki jerked. "Um, nothing, what I mean is that...um...what if someone...says it first?" Sakura went in to a deep thought for a moment, she never thought of it this way before. She snapped out of it. "No one would like him, he's not...that nice." She said, trying to bend the truth. Yoki looked at her closely. "Nice enough to capture your heart." Sakura blushed again. [What am I doing?] She thought to herself. [Why do I even BOTHER to have this conversation? I like Yukito...don't I?]

Yoki sighed. "Oh, come on!" She was getting impatient. "Make up your mind!" Sakura was surprised by her action. She never knew she was so concern. "I...I'm not going to do it, at least not yet."

Yoki sighed again. "Fine, I'm going to treat him, why don't you come? Since you care so much for him?" Yoki teased her. Sakura blushed. "I don't...I'm not coming, I need time to just...clear my mind."

"Be my guest." Yoki said, she started to walk away, but she suddenly stopped, and looked around. "Hey, Sakura?" She said. Sakura looked up. "Yes?" Yoki lowered her head. "I'm...sorry."

Sakura was confused. "For what?" she asked. Yoki looked at her in the eyes. She didn't say the thing she wanted to say. "I wasn't much of a help on your relationship problem." Sakura smiled, and replied her. "That's alright." Yoki walked away, knowing that wasn't the reason she apologized.

"Sorry, Sakura." She whispered to herself. "That was your only chance. You'll just have to live with out ever telling him how you feel." She looked at the bio herbs in her hand, and put it into the basket. She hates herself. She likes Sakura, but Sakura has to be the one, she can't even think about killing her. Syaoran, in the other case, is not a problem, she figured that if she gets rid of Syaoran, the legend won't be the same, and fate will change. She also thinks that Sakura could never handle her people all by herself, so getting rid of Syaoran can be good enough.

~~~~~

"Yoki, what took you?" Dr. Boohig said as she entered the Aqua room. Yoki looked tensed, she could make eye contact with them. Syaoran was sitting of the treatment bed, waiting for her. "What's wrong? Do you still feel sick?" He asked. Yoki blushed. "I...I'm fine, you don't...have to worry." She turned away. [Why is he being so nice to me? I...I've got to get rid of him soon!]

"Well, let our treatment begin, then. Yoki, hand me the medical herbs." Dr. Boohig commanded; he stretched out his hand, waiting for her.

"Um...yes." She hesitated, and then obeyed. Her hands were shaking, and Syaoran realized that, too. He thought that she might still be a little uncomfortable from yesterday's incident, so he decided to ignore it.

The treatment had begun. Yoki handed Dr. Boohig the herbs he needed. One by one, he inserted them into the black hole. Syaoran never knew, as Dr. Boohig inserted more in, he was getting closer and closer to his death...

~~~~~

Sakura was still sitting on the ladder, feeling uneasy, as if something's happening. She shifted back and forth on the steps. [What's going on?] She thought to herself. [What is this feeling?] Then she remembered the words Yoki said, and the way she acted weird around her. She still didn't understand why did Yoki tell her to make up her mind. She still has plenty of chances if she ever decides to tell Syaoran how she feels. Was there something wrong?

She shifted again. Then something caught her attention. A piece of herb was left on the top step of the ladder; Sakura figured that Yoki must have dropped it when she was collecting them into the basket. Sakura picked it up, thinking that it was slielgn leaf that they used to treat Syaoran's allergies. But as she examined more closely, there were six spikes on the side of the leaf, she remembered what Dr. Boohig told her._ 'Slielgn leaves have seven spikes on each side, and bio herbs have six.' _She also remembered the other part. _'Bio leaves can kill someone...'_

Sakura gasped, then leaped up. "Syaoran!" She yelled to herself. Charging out of the room, she called for Chocy, who arrived within 3 seconds after she called. She jumped on, and commanded him to run to the Aqua room as fast as he can.

[Yoki mixed the two herbs up!] Sakura thought. [If she uses that to treat Syaoran, Syaoran will die!] Wind blew on her face as Chocy raced for the life of Syaoran. Something hit Sakura's mind, the way Yoki said make up her mind, it sounded as if it was now or never. She thought to herself. [She...didn't mix it up...]

[_She did it on purpose!_]

"Faster, Chocy!!" She cried. Chocy ran until there were veins shaping on his head. "Syaoran...Syaoran..." Sakura's heart was beating fasted than ever. She prayed for Syaoran's safety. "Please...for god's sake...please be okay..."

She swept by Blossica, "What the..." She cursed as she watched Sakura and Chocy charged full speed towards the Aqua Room.

~~~~~

"Okay, next, we need slielgn leaves. Yoki?" Dr. Boohig reached out his hand. Yoki wasn't exactly listening. "Ye...yes, doctor." Instead, she handed him the bio herbs. Hoping that Dr. Boohig wouldn't notice that she switched the two, she handed it to him. She looked at Syaoran; he was staring at the ceiling, lying on his treatment bed that will fast become his deathbed, never suspected a thing. [You might have to suffer a little before you die.] Yoki thought. [But don't worry; the pain would be over very soon...everyone would think that this is an accident.]

Dr. Boohig brought the leaves in front of the black hole; he didn't know the herbs were switched. Concentrated on the treatment, he released the herbs into the black hole. Everything was suddenly in slow motion to Yoki; she just hoped that this could be done with quickly. She stared at the bio herbs, as they twirled around the black hole counter-clockwise, and slowly drained into Syaoran's body. One by one, the herbs disappeared at the end of the portal. Yoki watched as the last bio herbs was sucked into his body, she took a deep breathe, wasn't sure that she did the right thing.

It was funny how she thought that she might misses him when he's gone. She stared at him sadly. A mysterious stroke of pain suddenly stroked her heart as the thought came to her mind. Never see him again, is that was she really wants? She shook her head wildly, there was no turning back, he going to die now, he must die!

Sakura charged through the door. "Yoki! Don't do it!" Everyone was shocked by her sudden appearance. Three pairs of eyes stared at her curiously as she was choking for air. Yoki knew that she found out about her plan.

Syaoran lifted his head up. "Sakura? What are you doing..." Then a burning pain attacked his chest, he couldn't speak, and something was burning his throat so hard, that it was even hard for him to breathe. He put his hand to his neck, and started coughing, trying to get the pain out of his mouth. Every breath he took was like burning fire; he was in deep pain. He took big breaths, and his eyes were filled with fear.

Sakura ran forward, and kneeled beside him. "Syaoran! _SYAORAN_!!!" But no matter how hard she yelled; Syaoran couldn't hear her anymore. Tears began to roll down her face. "No..._NO_!!" Sakura screamed. Syaoran was dying, and there was nothing she could do.

"Ahh...AAAAHHH!!" Syaoran yelled painfully, sweats formed on his face as he struggled to breath. Dr. Boohig was stunned when he finally realized what was going on. "Bio...herbs..." Then he looked at Yoki. Yoki was shaking, she didn't know what to do at the moment, and she ran out of the Aqua room, trying to get out of the Aqua Stream. Just then, Blossica came in. "Sakura, you here?" she asked. Behind her was Chocy, staring furiously at Yoki; he even lowered his head, to make a prepared to attack position.

Yoki knew she was trapped. She didn't know what to do. Then Sakura came out of the Aqua room, a though came across Yoki's mind. She snatched a pointy crystal from the wall, and ran towards Sakura with it. Before Sakura know what was going on, Yoki put her arm around Sakura's neck, and pointed the crystal at her neck. "Don't come any closer!" She threatened. Blossica stopped at where she was, and Dr. Boohig stayed around the exit of the Aqua room.

Dr. Boohig looked calm, too calm. Blossica looked at them, a bit confused. "Yoki? What are you doing?"

"Quite!" She put the sharp crystal closer to Sakura's neck. "Or the girl gets it!" Sakura looked bad, she looked at Dr. Boohig, and spoke with tears in her eyes. "Doctor...please...go help Syaoran, don't worry about me...you'll have to...save Syaoran." It was hard for her to speak because Yoki was choking her. Yoki looked at her. "Why don't you worry about yourself, at a moment like this, you can still be worrying about someone else?"

"Syaoran...is everything to me..." Sakura said; more tears came down her face. "I'd give up my life for him...as long as he...is fine."

Yoki didn't know why, suddenly she felt a stream of pity flowing across her heart. She looked at Dr. Boohig; her eyes were filled with sadness. "Sorry, doctor, I'm not the pupil you think I am...I...am a missioner, a missioner from hell!"

Everyone gasped, except for Dr. Boohig, who stood there calmly. Yoki continued. "I was just working for you to repay you, to thank you for saving me when I was wounded. But I knew this day would come...when I carry out my mission."

Blossica was frightened, she asked. "What...was your mission?" Yoki looked at her, then looked back at Dr. Boohig. "As a missioner, our mission is to destroy the legendary heroes, and to mess up human civilizations. As a mission in flowerville, my mission was to destroy the water source!"

Again, everyone gasped but Dr. Boohig, who still stood there. Yoki looked at him, and yelled. "Why weren't you surprised at all?" Dr. Boohig couldn't be calmer. He answered slowly. "I knew."

Yoki was surprised. She stared at him regretfully. "You...you do?"

Someone tapped Blossica from behind, Blossica turned around, and that person told her to cover him up, he's going to save the girl. Blossica nodded, and tried to block him. Chocy seems to know that person.

"I knew from the start." Dr. Boohig continued. "From the time I saw your tattoo on your upper arms when I was treating you, I already noticed."

Yoki shook her head. "Then...why didn't you tell? Why did you have to save me?"

"I'm a doctor." Dr. Boohig said. "I live to heal. No matter what kind of person becomes a patient, I will heal them, even the ones that are bound to bring the world to an end."

"Is that so..." Yoki said; her eyes were getting watery.

"I also saw the good side in you. All those time you studied with medical, you weren't faking it, I can tell. You weren't that bad. I though I can change you, get you away from the missioner business forever."

"Well you thought wrong."

"No, I didn't. I still believe you can change; it's not too late. You can still turn back, we can heal Syaoran together!"

"No! I can't!" She shook her head wildly; tears were flunked out, she ripped the sleeve on the right arm. The tattoo appeared. "I can't live a normal life like you people! Sometimes I wish I could, but I can't! Do you know what this is?" She showed him the tattoo.

"The...missioner's tattoo, one's symbol of a mission and one's weakness..." He said.

"Yes, but it's not really a weakness, it's a tracing devise. They can trace me all the way from the south peek of Ometin from where the base is. Once it's destroyed, the head can't trace us anymore, in order to keep up in tracks, the missioners die with the tattoo, to make sure we don't get away from the organization..."

Blossica covered her mouth, "That's horrible."

"But is this what you really want? Flowerville all dried up, Syaoran dead?" Dr. Boohig said.

Yoki thought of Flowerville, the place she loves, always happy and filled with wonderful flowers. Then she thought of Syaoran, he teased her and joked with her sometimes, but deep in, she really cared for him.

"...No..." she cried. Dr. Boohig expected that answer. "Then give me the crystal, we'll heal Syaoran together." But Yoki refused. "No...I'll still have to finish her off! I can't turn back! If I kill the hero, my mission would be complete, and Flowerville and Syaoran can be saved!" She raised her crystal, and was about to stab Sakura...

"Yoki! Don't do it!" Dr. Boohig and Blossica both shouted.

Sakura closed her eyes, [...at least...at least Syaoran can be saved...then I won't have any regrets...]

_Syaoran..._

Suddenly, Yoki dropped her crystal. Something hit her hand, when she turned back to look it what it was, it looked like a wallet. "What?" she said. Sakura slowly opened her eyes, couldn't believe that she was still alive.

"Alright! I got it!" Jon jumped up and down behind Blossica, Chocy charged forward to get Sakura away from Yoki. Sakura was surprised at how it turned out. Jon didn't forget to do his job. He ran forward, and put Yoki down, he drew a weapon out of his pocket. "Going down, little girl." But instead, he drew out a golden necklace (stolen). "Oops, wrong one." He put it back, and drew out a knife shaped like a banana. "Freeze." He said.

"Let her go." Dr. Boohig commanded. Jon looked at the hundred years old man. "But..." Jon wasn't sure what to do. Dr. Boohig looked Yoki in the eyes. "I still believe that you can change, the only thing left, is do you believe in yourself." He walked closer to her. "Help me save that child's life."

Yoki cried harder. "...Yes...yes...I will..." She couldn't believe that Dr. Boohig would still give her another chance after what she had done. Dr. Boohig smiled; the treatment began.

~~~~~

Sakura and the rest waited outside as Yoki and Dr. Boohig treated Syaoran in the Aqua room. For the whole time, Sakura was shaking. Blossica and Jon went over to her, and tried to calm her down. "Don't worry." Jon said. "That guys tougher than you thought, he'll be out of that room in no time." He winked to her; Sakura forced a smile, showing that she appreciated the support. Her heartbeat was fast; the treatment went on for an hour, though it seems like a year to Sakura.

Finally, Yoki and Dr. Boohig came out. Sakura ran up to them. "How is he?" She asked. Dr. Boohig looked at her seriously. "We did everything we could, it's up to him now." Dr. Boohig looked at the room. Sakura was ever so disappointed at the answer. Yoki came up to her. "I'm sorry..."

Yoki was the last person Sakura wanted to see, she was the one who made Syaoran's life hangs on a thread. She couldn't even look at her. Yet deep in, she knew Yoki couldn't really help it, Sakura said, "That's fine." But it didn't mean that she forgave her for doing such a horrible thing.

Yoki can sense that, too. She knew it was all her fault. "I...I'll try to find some more anti-biotic leaf." She ran out of the cave.

Sakura looked at Dr. Boohig. "Can I see him?" She asked. Dr. Boohig nodded. She ran into the room, Syaoran lied there lifelessly; each breath he took was weak and small. His face was pale, compare to his blushing face whenever he sees Sakura smile, the face he had looks dead. "Syaoran...wake up." She whispered. "Everyone's getting worried, Chocy, Jon, Blossica, Dr. Boohig..." She paused, and then went on. "Even Yoki was worried. You're always mad at me for getting you worry, so how come you're doing this to me?"

Syaoran just lay there; no responds to her voice, Sakura put her hand on his cheek, his face was cold. She smoothed the cold skin as she went on. "Come on, wake up...we still have to save Ometin, then go back to Tokyo, and continue our date, remember? You can't die now...you can't..."

Still, Syaoran was motionless. Sakura couldn't help it anymore, more tears dropped down her cheek. "You can't..." She said, even louder now. "You can't die now...I still haven't tell you how I feel yet...Syaoran...I...I..." She shook her head wildly, and then looked at him emotionally. "I love you..."

Sakura waited, hoping that was the magic spell that can wake him. But he stayed still, eyes closed. Sakura wrapped her arms around his cold body, and cried harder.

Yoki came in moments later. Sakura heard footsteps behind her; she turned around, and saw Yoki. "Oh..." She said. Yoki avoided eye contacts. "I...got some more anti-biotic leaves...I...hope this would help."

Sakura nodded, then went out of the room, leaving Yoki there to treat Syaoran. Yoki looked at Syaoran, she went closer, and brushed his hair. "I'm sorry..." She whispered. "I don't know what I was doing...I just wanted to get rid of my identity as a mission and live a normal life." She looked in to his shuteyes, and leaned closer. "But sacrificing your life for a normal life is the hardest choice I ever made." She lowered her head. "I chose a normal life over you. But if I can choose again..." She lifted her head up again. "I'd choose you."

She stood up, wiping the tears in her eyes. "That's why, I'll do anything to save you." She sprinkled some black hole dust on him, the black hole formed, and she started to put in some anti-biotic leaves.

~~~~~

"This is bad..." Jon said. Walking around the Aqua Stream, he felt helpless. "This is really bad."

"Yeah..." Blossica said. "And Syaoran is not the only problem...if Yoki's allies come to find her, Flowerville would be destroyed."

"But..." Dr. Boohig said. "Do we really have to give up Yoki? She's really not a bad girl."

Sakura tried to think, but all she cared about was whether or not Syaoran can make it. Yoki came out of the room. "The perfect solution is for me to leave Flowerville." She said. Her eyes told them that she made up her mind. "I can't stand hurting more people, I must go!" After seeing what happened to Syaoran, Yoki felt so guilty, feeling that she doesn't deserve to be around such a nice village.

"Yoki, that's no way to solve matter!" Blossica stood up. "Is there anyway to remove her tattoo with out killing her?"

"Well." Jon said. "There is one way." Everyone turned his or her attention to him. "But I'm not sure it'll work." He said. "All it takes it my stone on my wrist, and Sakura's Angle wing crystal."

"Really?" Sakura exclaimed. "Then let's begin!" Yoki was so happy that she was thinking to herself. "A chance to become a real human...? I never knew I'd live to see the day."

"But, there's a catch to it." Jon said. Yoki knew it wasn't going to be that easy, she was ready to give up whatever it takes. Jon continued. "My mother said, that if a mission has a change of heart, he or she can remove the tattoo, which is his or her soul, without dying if that missioner has a new, decent soul developed in her body." Jon pointed to Yoki. "So if you really have changed, there'd be a new soul in you. Then we can take out your old one, and you can live with the new one."

Yoki nodded, "Okay." Jon put his hand down. "However, if you aren't really changed, then there'd be no new soul. So if we take away your old one, you will die." Yoki nodded again, she understood the risk, and she was going to take the chance. "I'm ready." She said.

"Okay." Jon said, he gave Sakura a nod; Sakura nodded back, and took out her necklace. Jon lifted up his right arm, and Sakura lifted the necklace up with her left. Yoki stood in the middle; she was ready for anything.

Jon started to say the spell. "Power of our ancestors, help our people find the light. I, Jon, here to beg you, HELP THIS LOST SHEEP FIND THE WAY, GRAD HER A NEW LIFE!!"

Both the stone on his wrist and Sakura's crystal glowed brightly. The tattoo on Yoki's arm was pulled away from her skin, forming a soul, and was sucked into Sakura's crystal.

The light went away, Yoki collapsed on the ground. Dr. Boohig and Blossica ran up to her. "Yoki!" They yelled. Dr. Boohig lifted her head up. "Did she make it?" Blossica asked.

Just then, Yoki slowly opened her eyes. "Doctor?" She said weakly. Dr. Boohig was so happy, that a slight spark of tear came across his face. "Oh, Yoki, you made it!" She nodded, Blossica went aside to leave the two alone. They all watched the two happily as they hugged like a pair of real granddaughter and grandpa.

~~~~~

It sun is setting, and Syaoran still hasn't wake up yet. Dr. Boohig said that if he still doesn't wake up, he might not make it. The idea almost crushed Sakura. She went to his room back and forth, every time she goes in, she comes out with a pair of watery eyes.

"Is there anything that we can do? Are there any cure for the bio herbs?" Sakura said. Yoki and Dr. Boohig looked at each other, and replied. "If there is, we'd use it by now, don't you think?"

"Not a plant in the world can cure it?" Sakura asked. Dr. Boohig sighed, "Well, if you must ask...there was a plant that can cure it, the Life tree. Its leaves can heal the most toxic-filled patient, but that tree already extinct three hundred years ago."

"Life tree?" Sakura asked. She saw a line of hope, and ran out of the cave. Blossica asked. "Where are you going?" Sakura turned back, and answered. "To find the Life tree!"

"Silly girl, that thing is already extinct! You can't find it even if you go all over Ometin!" Dr. Boohig said.

"I'll find a way!" She ran out, leaving them confused. But Jon and Chocy already knew that Sakura can do it, she can find the life tree, one way or the other.

Sakura went to the back of the cave, making sure that no one was around. She took out her key. "Release!" She commanded; the little key chain turned into a staff. Then she took out the wood card. "Please...please let it work...you're my only hope!" She took a deep breath, then dispelled. "Wood, get me a Life tree!!"

The Wood card formed into a huge tree with leaves of shape of a star, the tree bark was silver, yet the leaves are golden, it was the most beautiful tree Sakura ever saw. But there were no time to spare, she grabbed a few leaves, and called back the wood card. Then with her full speed, ran back to the cave, and show the leaves to Dr. Boohig.

"Where on earth did you get this? This is the leave of a Life tree." Dr. Boohig was amazed. Sakura, however, didn't have time for this. "There's no time! Quick! Save Syaoran!"

~~~~~

_Where...am I...?_

_Sakura...?_

_Chocy...?_

_Anyone...?_

Syaoran was floating in a dark space; he couldn't move a mussel. His body was in deep pain.

_Am I..._

_Dead?_

_What is this place?_

_Why can't I move?_

Just then, he saw a light; it was warm and bright. His body automatically floated closer to the light, he can feel the warmth, his pain was gone, he felt relieve.

_It's..._

_Very comfortable..._

_What is this...?_

He was getting closer, his hand can almost reach it, when a beautiful woman appeared in front of his face, and started to push him away.

_Go away..._

_Turn back..._

_You can't come..._

_It's not your time yet..._

_Sakura needs you..._

_You can't die..._

The woman kept repeating the same phases all over, Syaoran could barely see her, she had green eyes just like Sakura, and her gray hair was silky and long, it was curling around the wings at her back.

Before he knew what happened, he was pulling away from the light, and was sucked back. [What...?]

He opened his eyes, he saw Sakura, crying. He opened his mouth to speak. "...Sakura?"

"Oh, Syaoran!" Sakura through herself around him, he slowly got up, head still a bit painful, he looked around. "Jon...? Blossica...? What happened? I remember Yoki and Dr. Boohig was treating me when Sakura charged in...then the rest..."

Jon smiled. "It's a long story."

~~~~~

Everyone was getting ready to leave. Sakura was packing in her room when Yoki came in. "You didn't tell him." Yoki said. "About my true identity, about what I did...why?"

Sakura looked at her, she didn't really want to answer that. She kept on packing, and said. "It was for the best of Syaoran, I don't him to know that he almost die yesterday."

Yoki smiled. "You really care a lot for him." Sakura blushed a little, Yoki was about to leave, but she turned back, and said. "One more thing. I hope this can be a lesson for you."

Sakura stared at her madly. "A lesson for _ME_?!?" Yoki nodded. "Anything can happen at anytime, he might not die yesterday nor today, but that doesn't mean that he won't be in danger again in the future." She moved her head. "Tell him before it's too late."

Sakura lowered her head, she know that what she said is true. "I will." She nodded. "...Thanks."

Yoki smiled, and then left the room.

Blossica heard everything from outside; she walked up to Yoki. "Feeling better?"

Yoki nodded. "Never been better."

"It's always hard to give up your love, especially your first."

"What can I do, I tried to kill him." The two giggled, and got out of the house.  
~~~~~

Everything was finally backed on track, Yoki would stay and work with Dr. Boohig, and Blossica will continue to plant flowers. And Jon...well...Jon will always be Jon.

Sakura and Syaoran continued their journey on the back of Chocy. They walked for three miles, and then Syaoran asked. "Hey, Sakura, did I really got unconscious because Yoki accidentally dropped a sleeping grass into the black hole?"

Sakura jerked. "Yeah...why?"

Syaoran scratched his head, "Oh, nothing...I guess...just that you were crying, and Jon said it was a long story..."

"It was a long story! Yoki was going to give you medical herbs but she accidentally mixed it with the sleeping grass she had. Because, you see, she has sleeping problems, you have no idea, she have to count three thousand chocobos in order to go to sleep, so she has to take those..."

"Okay, I got it!" Syaoran said, he's afraid of never ending stories. Sakura sighed, glad she pulled it off, but Syaoran asked another question. "Sakura...do you know anyone with...long curly gray hair, green eyes just like yours, and about the age of twenty?" Sakura looked at him. "That sounds like my mother that passed away when I was three."

"Passed away?" Syaoran said; a sweat rolled down on his head. Sakura tilted her head. "Why'd you ask?" Syaoran shook his head. "Oh, nothing really." But then he thought to himself. [Did I have a near death experience? Because of sleeping grass??]

Sakura, in the other hand, was thinking something more realistic. She remembered the words Yoki told her. She has to tell Syaoran how she feels before it's too late. She leaned a bit closer to Syaoran...afraid of losing him again...she tried to get the words out. "Syaoran?" She said, almost whispered.

"Hmm?" Syaoran replied ever so softly. Sakura's face turned red, then she ended up with. "Nothing..."

Syaoran smiled, and paid his attention back to the road.

[Oh well...] Sakura thought. [Maybe tomorrow...]

to be continued...


	15. Brother Sister trouble & 5 year old Syao...

In the next scene, we have chapter 15. ~~~~~  
  
"I'll fight till the end for the sake of your safety..."  
  
CCS: LEGEND OF OMETIN  
  
Chapter 15 ~~~~~  
  
Tap, tap, tap, tap. That was the sound of Chocy walking anxiously to the next destination along a road between two big farms. His steps are wiggling and unsteady, drops of salty sweats are rolling down his head. Hot sun was cruelly beaming down on hm; he struggled to go on. Every step he took he made a "huff" and "puff" sound, so when he walks, he sounds like the following: "Huff.puff.huff.puff." His eyes are becoming swirls. Sakura looked at him, and said. "You know, I think we should let Chocy rest a little." Then finally, he collapsed, leaving two "+" marks on his eyes. "You think?" Syaoran teased.  
  
They found a mini out door teahouse near by, so they sat down, and had a little rest. Chocy was choking down all the water and nut so fast, that he didn't even chew. "Slow down, Chocy, you'll choke." Syaoran warned him as he and Sakura sat at a table next to Chocy. They ordered some tea and snacks. Sakura asked as the waiter pour some tea into their cups. "We've been seeing nothing but farmlands around this area, do you think that the landscape will change as we head north?"  
  
Syaoran shook his head. "I don't know...anything can happen around here." The waiter over heard them. "Sorry, but are you two heading north?" Sakura and Syaoran both nodded. The waiter continued. "It's a great desert north from here, so you better be prepared." Sakura and Syaoran looked at each other, then look back at the waiter. "Desert?" They asked. The waiter nodded. "It won't take you that long to cross, but on you way, you might run into sand storms. You'll need something to cover your face or your nose will be fill with sand by the time you cross it."  
  
Sakura made an expression. "Ill! I don't want that!" The waiter nodded. "So you better geared up!" Syaoran asked. "What do you suggest?" The waiter walked back to the teahouse, and came out with two blankets. "You'll at least need these." He put them on the table, and lifted up three fingers. "It'll be thirty ominian (unit for Ometin dollars)."  
  
"No way! That expensive?" Syaoran shouted. The waiter, or a salesman now, leaned on the table. "It's the best offer around, these are special sand proof blankets." He patted the blankets to show how strong it is. Syaoran looked at Sakura, and said. "I'll just take one."  
  
The salesman reacted. "What? But there're two of you." Syaoran reached into his pocket, and gave him fifteen ominians. "I know." he said, handing the money to him. "We'll share." The salesman took the money and gave him one blanket. Sakura looked at Chocy, who's choking down food and water, and asked the salesman. "Do you have something for our chocobo?"  
  
"Hmm.chocobos.now let see here." He put his hand on his chin, thinking. "Oh," he though of something, as he ran into the storage. "I got just the thing!" He came out with something like a mask in chocobo head shape with gaggles around the eyes area. "The Chocobo sand proof mask should do the trick!" He said, putting it on Chocy. "Wa.wark??" Chocy said under the mask. Sakura walked closer to him, and asked. "Is it comfortable, Chocy?" Chocy wiggled his head around, and shook its shoulders, making a "Wark, wark" noise indicating, "It's okay."  
  
"We'll take it!" Sakura said, although Syaoran's the one who was paying. Syaoran looked at the salesman. "How come you've got something like a mask for Chocy and only a blanket for us?"  
  
~~~~~  
  
The waiter (or salesman) was right, as they head more to north, the landscape are surrounded by desert. Wind mixed with sand blew on their faces, and the wind got stronger as they went. Syaoran thought it was time, so he took out the blanket, and covered Chocy's face with the chocobo mask. Sakura sat in front of him with both legs on one side, so Syaoran can cover her with the blanket. On arm holding her, the other holding on to Chocy, he commanded Chocy to start walking.  
  
The wind got stronger and stronger, blowing more sand into their faces. Chocy didn't really seem to mind since he had his mask on. Sakura snuggled in Syaoran's arms. "Syaoran.it's hard to breathe." She looked sick, Syaoran held her more tightly. "Don't worry, Sakura, we'll be there soon.I hope." Sakura coughed. Her face was getting pale. Syaoran covered more of her face with the blanket, and told Chocy to move faster. Chocy nodded, and ran faster. The wind was blowing against them, making them even harder to go on. The fact that Chocy ran faster blew even more sand into Sakura's face. Sakura wined. "Syaoran." But Syaoran weren't doing so good either; it was hard for him, too. "Ha.hang on."  
  
Just then, Sakura thought of something. "RELEASE!" She commanded the key to return to its original form. She took out a card, and used it. "Sand!" the card turned to a lovely sand fairy that's dressed in ancient Arabia clothes. She surrounded them, and formed a sand barrier, so the sand can't get to them. Sakura took the blanket off her face, and took a deep breath. "Phew, that's better!" Syaoran also took the blanket off his head. "Yeah, we should've done this from the beginning, so we don't need to pay for over priced blankets. He jumped off Chocy, and tried to take off his mask, but Chocy refused, and shook his hand off. Syaoran backed up. "Whoa, what's the matter?" Chocy used his wings to cover his face, to sign, "I want this! It looks cool!" Syaoran sighed as a big sweat drop rolled down from his head. "Fine."  
  
He jumped back onto Chocy, and told him to move. They started to walk, and the sand fairy followed them, protecting them with the barrier.  
  
They walked for a few miles, and still saw no signs of a town or what so ever. Just when they thought they were going to camp out tonight, Chocy tripped on to something; he lost his balanced for a while, and flapped his wings furiously to try and not to fall. When it finally gained its balance back, they all turned around to look on earth tripped them. They were surprised, realizing it was a young lady!  
  
"Oh no!" Sakura yelled, and jumped off Chocy. Syaoran followed her. She picked her up; half of her body was buried in sand. Sakura brushed the sand off her, and lightly tapped her face, "Are you okay?" She asked. "Oh, no. Chocy killed her!!" Sakura looked at Chocy, who immediately backed up. "Chocy's a killer!! You ran her over!!" Sakura yelled louder.  
  
"Calm down!" Syaoran said. "You're scaring Chocy! Beside, I don't think she's dead, or if she is, we're not the reason. She was fainted to start with!" Syaoran picked her up, and checked her pause. Chocy walked closer to them to see if she was still alive. The Syaoran smiled to him. "Don't worry, Chocy, she's still alive." Chocy sighed to his relived.  
  
"Let's bring her to the nearest village." Syaoran said, he lifted her on Chocy's back, and led them. They walked for another minute or so, and came across a village. It was a weird village; everything was made out of sand, the building, the stores, the houses, everything. But that's not the weird part. A barrier similar to the one created by the sand card protected the whole village. Just when they were about to reach it, the sand storm suddenly died down in the matter of seconds. Sakura and Syaoran were very unfamiliar with this unusual phenomenon. The walked closer to the village, then a boy around their age came charging out the village entrance. "Sis!!" He cried as he stumbled across the sand, followed by a few villagers.  
  
"Sis?" Sakura and Syaoran both said. He must've meant the girl they saved. Syaoran was getting her off Chocy when the boy slapped his hand. "Hey!" Syaoran shouted, but the boy shouted even louder. "Don't you dare touch my sis!! What have you done to her?" He insisted bringing her down himself. A few villagers came to help him. One of them bowed to Syaoran, she was an old lady with gray hair tide in a bun at the back of her head. "Thanks for bring her back, we were getting worried. Why don't you come to the village, and we'll explain everything."  
  
~~~~~  
  
"Welcome to Sand village. We live between the desert and the great lake, so our climate is really a mix of both." The old lady led them into the village; she was explaining the situation to them. "As you can see most of the shelters around this area is constructed with sand. We really make use of the resources around us." She waved her hand around. Sakura and Syaoran looked around them, she was right; everything was made out of sand. "The lake is our source of water, that's why a lot of us live around the coast." Syaoran made a face, and then asked. "What if there's a flood tide?"  
  
The old lady shook her head. "We've been keeping track of the water and know where to build the houses, the water won't get as up as the houses."  
  
"I guess." Syaoran agreed, then the felt this extreme heat that flew from head to toe, all three of them collapsed, and yelled. "SO HOT!!" and in Chocy's case, "WARK!!" he was so hot that he had to take off the chocobo mask. The old lady laughed. "Of course, silly, this is the desert. Why don't you go to Selenda's house, and ask her for some change of clothes?"  
  
"That would be wonderful." Syaoran said, lifting his head up. Sakura heard the name, and asked. "Who's Selenda?" The old lady pointed to a house near by. "Why don't you ask her yourselves?" A young lady came out of the house the old lady pointed to. Sakura and Syaoran both exclaimed. "You!"  
  
"Hi, my name is Selenda." The girl said. It was the same girl that they saved in the desert. "I heard that you saved me. Thank you so much." She smiled. She was a bit older than Sakura and Syaoran; her hair was only till her neck. She looks active and gentle at the same time.  
  
A shadow appeared behind her. "You don't really need to thank him, sis, I don't think he was up to any good from the start." That shadow said. Selenda turned around, and yelled at him. "Dalon!" That shadow stepped into the light; he was the boy who slapped Syaoran's hand back there. "All men who gets close to you are just to flirt with you, and I don't think that he's an exception." He crossed his arms across his chest. "Stop it, Dalon, you're being very rude!" Selenda said. Dalon pointed towards Syaoran. "He was touching you when you were unconscious!" He said. Syaoran couldn't remain silence anymore. "I was getting her off Chocy! You made it sound like I am a pervert!" He held up a fist and shouted back.  
  
"Sy.Syaoran." Sakura said, trying to calm him down.  
  
"You were up to no good, who knows what you would've done if I hadn't arrived?" Dalon shouted louder. Selenda covered his mouth. "That's enough!! You're so grounded!!" She dragged him back in to the house. She turned around, and forced a smile. "Why don't you come in and change into something that suits the climate? You people must be burning in those."  
  
Inside, Sakura and Syaoran changed into something more comfortable. Syaoran put his utility belt around him, and hanged his sword around his waist. Sakura came skipping out of the dressing room. "Syaoran, so, how do I look?" She was dressed in a short, tight pair of pants with a mini cape around her waist with a sleeveless top, matching a pair of long gloves that came to the upper part of her arms. Syaoran couldn't help but blush. "Um.it looks."  
  
"Nice? Oh, Syaoran, you say that every time I change into something." She tapped his nose. That made him blushed even more.  
  
On their way out to the dinning room, they heard Dalon wining to Selenda. "Why do I have to lend him my clothes.I won't wear it after it's been on his filthy body." Selenda put some tea on the table. "Fine, he can keep it." Sakura and Syaoran stepped out; Selenda clapped her hands together. "Oh, it fits! That's great. I though my old clothes would fit you." She went over to pick off some lint on Sakura's shoulder. She turned to Syaoran. "And you, you look so handsome in my brother's clothes."  
  
This was the first time Syaoran heard someone beside than his mother and sisters use the word "handsome" to describe him. "Um.thanks." His face turned slightly red. Unluckily, Dalon caught that minor blush. He grumbled, Syaoran saw the look on his face, and tried to avoid looking at him. Just when he was about to give Syaoran a piece of his mind, someone knocked on the door.  
  
"Sorry to interrupt." A mother carrying a daughter appeared as Dalon opened the door. "But my daughter has a fever, can you help her?" The mother said. Dalon smiled, and waved one hand to guide her to a room. "Sure, follow me." Sakura and Syaoran saw them, and turned around, asking Selenda what was happening. "How come the mother came to Dalon when her daughter is sick? Why doesn't she go to a doctor?" Selenda smiled, and looked at her brother. "He's the town's pharmacist, everyone turns to him when they're sick."  
  
Sakura gasped. "Really? Oh, he must be so smart." Selenda grinned to her complement. "Well, in a way, yes. But you see, this is a very small town, everyone needs to take responsible for a certain part of the town. Mr. Coochi is the town's welder; Mrs. Retyum is the town's sewer. You see, we really rely on each other. Life would be difficult with out anyone of us."  
  
Sakura asked out of curiosity. "So what's your job?" Selenda smiled, and danced around the kitchen table. "I'm the town's dancer, I dance in special ceremonies and festivals." She moved delicately around the table, graceful as the swan, and smooth as a piece of silky cloth. Her short hair waved in the air, shining and floating. Sakura and Syaoran looked at her admiralty, Dalon came out with a tray filled with medicine, and saw that her sister was dancing again. Her movement was so beautiful that Sakura and Syaoran didn't even notice he came in. Dalon saw the way Syaoran looked at Selenda. His eyes were shining, amazed by her skill. Jealousy formed in Dalon's eyes. He slowly walked closer to Syaoran, and stepped on his foot on purpose. "Ouch!!" Syaoran screamed, Selenda stopped dancing, and everyone turned his or her attention to Syaoran. "What gives?" Syaoran yelled at Dalon. Dalon looked back at him. "You are just like every other men I came across, drooling upon my sister's dance move." Syaoran was really insulted this time. "What do you mean?" He held up a fist, ready to fight. Instead, Dalon just ignored him. "I don't have time for you, I still have a patient to treat."  
  
Syaoran looked at him madly. "That little son of a." Selenda interrupted him with an apology. "I'm sorry that he acted that way." She bawled. Syaoran turned to look at her, and put his hand on his head. "Oh.um.it's no problem." He said. Selenda got up, and looked into the air sadly. "It's just that.after the incident." For a minute there, she went in to deep thought. Syaoran walked closer to check on her. "Hello?" He asked. Selenda snapped into reality. "Oh, um, sorry, I was daydreaming again. Oh, I didn't really finish my dance yet, why don't you come to my practice this afternoon?" Sakura popped into the conversation. "Okay! I really want to see more of your dances anyway!"  
  
Selenda grinned, and replied. "That's great!"  
  
On the other side of the wall, Dalon pure a little dust into a small piece of cloth, and wrapping it into a little package. He smiled, and then put it into his pocket.  
  
~~~~~  
  
On an outdoor stage in the outer part of the town, a few couches were teaching Selenda more dance moves. They were all there to watch, including Dalon; he looked at the way the couch taught his sister, his facial expression turned grumpy again. "Stupid couch, he didn't really have to get that close." Syaoran overheard that, and teased him. "You're still jealous over your older sister? That's very childish of you." Dalon looked at him, and stuck his tongue out. "Being childish is better than being perverted!" Syaoran was really irritated, "Alright, that's it! You've had your fun, now it's time to get serious!"  
  
Dalon taunted him even more. He made a face, and said. "I'm not afraid of you!" Syaoran ran towards him, and yelled. "Oh, we'll see about that!" Dalon turned and ran; Syaoran chased after him. "Come back here, coward!" But he was no coward; he was leading him into a trap.  
  
"Syaoran?" Sakura said as she witnessed Syaoran running out the theater. "What's the rush?"  
  
Dalon ran into an alley, until he reached a dead end. He stopped and turned around to face Syaoran. Syaoran slammed his fist together, and said; "Now I've got you." Dalon smiled. "No, not really." He reached into his pocket, and picked out the bag of dust. Syaoran didn't notice what was he up to. "Game's over, you're going to pay for all the things you've said."  
  
"Why? They're all true. You're just like any other men, each and every one of them. Always after my sister, well I'm telling you, there's no way that you perverts can get her!" Dalon yelled; his emotion was really unstable.  
  
Syaoran put his hand on his waist. "Boy, talk about being over protective. You're even worst than Touya!" He laughed. Dalon asked. "Who?" Syaoran waved his hand. "Never mind." Dalon continued. "You just don't get it, the bond between my and Selenda is more than you think!"  
  
~~~~~  
  
"Selenda! You were great!" Sakura said, as she ran up to her. Selenda just finished her practice; she went up to meet Sakura. "Thanks! " She said. She turned around and found no signs of his brother or Syaoran. "Where're the boys?" She asked. Sakura waved her hand. "Went off to somewhere." Selenda put her hand on her chin. "I hope they're not fighting..Dalon's a very protective little brother." Sakura smiled. "Yeah, I know what you mean, I've got a big brother, too!" Selenda shook her head. "No, he's different. We've really been through a lot." She sat down and Sakura sat down beside her. She began to explain. "My mother died in an early age, and my father got lonely, so he got married again, but that woman already have a child, and he's Dalon." She said.  
  
"So you and your sister aren't real brother and sister?" Syaoran asked as Dalon summarized his past. "My real father left us, he was just like the other no good men."  
  
"He left?" Sakura asked Selenda at the same time. Selenda nodded, and went on. "That's why he's always saying 'Men are dirty! They're dirty creatures!' And so on. So after our parents died, we really rely on each other, he always joked about how he won't give me to any man, the best thing to do is just to marry him." She laughed, but her laughter wasn't happy.  
  
"You really meant that, didn't you?" Syaoran asked Dalon. Dalon got puzzled. "What?" Syaoran said. "Marrying her! You two aren't really related.so you can really get marry." Dalon's face turned a bit red. Syaoran made a disgusted face. "Oh my god." Dalon looked up, and Syaoran was shaking his head. "Oh, goodness. You have a crush on your own sister! I was just bluffing! And look what I found out!" Dalon eyed him, and yelled. "Shut up!!" He took out the bag of dust, and threw it towards Syaoran. The bag opened, and the dust got all over him. "(Cough cough) What the heck are you doing? You want me to kick your ass?" Dalon looked at him. "If you can."  
  
"Of course I can you little." Then Syaoran realized his voice had changed. Looking up at Dalon, thinking since when does he look that tall to him, he noticed that he was the one who's short. He looked at his own hand, "Oh.oh my god!! AAAAAAAHHHHH!!"  
  
"What was that?" Sakura got up form the seat. Selenda stood up, and said, "That came from the alley!" She spring for the alley. Sakura ran after her. When they reached the alley, they saw Dalon standing there, and a pile of clothes on the ground, and were that pile of clothes.moving? Sakura noticed that it was Syaoran's clothes. "Dalon! Where's Syaoran!" She yelled.  
  
".Sakoowa.."  
  
The girls turned around to look for the one who said that, that was a rather high-pitched voice that tried to say "Sakura" but miss pronounced. They turned left and right, without seeing anyone in their sight, they listened closely.  
  
".Down here."  
  
Sakura looked at the pile of clothes, and realized something was in it, talking. "Hoe.?" Then she noticed the pile of clothes was really a kid in over sized clothes. "Sakoowa." The kid said.  
  
Almost right away, Sakura detected it. "Sy.Syaoran?????" She kneeled down before him. He said in a high pitch voice. "It.me, Sakoowa."  
  
Sakura covered her mouth. "Oh my god, Syaoran.you're.you're." She hugged him tightly. "CUTE!!"  
  
"Um.um.Sakoowa!!" The little Syaoran blushed as he tried to pull Sakura away from him, but he wasn't strong enough to do so. When Sakura finally pulled away, she looked at Syaoran with a worried expression. "But.why are you so small.?" Syaoran pointed his little index finger to Dalon. "He did it!"  
  
Selenda rushed up to him, holding up a fist in front of his face, she yelled. "Dalon, turn him back." Dalon simply held up two hands and said. "I can't." they all exclaimed. "What?!" Syaoran jumped up and down in Sakura's arms. "What do you mean you can't? You mean I have to stay like this forever?!" Selenda squeezed his shirt's collar and started wiggling him back and forth. "You! You're always doing this! Why the heck did you turn him into a little kid? You better turn him back or you'll have to wash dishes for the rest of your life!"  
  
Dalon got dizzy as she wiggled him. "Okay! Okay! It's only temporarily!" He shouted. Selenda stopped wiggling and listened, "What did you say?" The three of them asked. Dalon was still dizzy. "I.only used it on him because that was a new kind of medical dust.and I wanted to test it.and I hated his guts, so." Selenda brought him closer to her face and yelled even louder. "YOU WHAT? How can you test drugs on him??"  
  
"So." Dalon continued. "Until I figure out how to work with this kind of medical dust.you'll have to stay as a five year old." Dalon said. Syaoran complained. "What? How can you do this to me?" Sakura pulled him back to her lap. "Oh, come on, look at the bright side!" Sakura said, smiling with a cheerful face. "You get to be five again! What are the odds of that happening to you?" Syaoran blushed, and said. "But I don't want to be five." Sakura stood up, and swung him in her arms. "Oh.that's not so bad. Come on, I'll carry you around.and sing lullabies to you.oh, me, carrying you around, you can't do that everyday!" Sakura giggled. Syaoran blushed harder, and started to stutter. "But.but, but."  
  
Selenda walked towards them, and lifted on of Syaoran's sleeves up. "Well first we'll have to get you into some suitable clothes. But, my, you're cute!!" She pinched his face, and laughed. "Can I carry you around, too?" Two veins popped up on Dalon's head, never thought that his plan backfired, now his sister adores him even more!  
  
Selenda smiled. "Let's go." She turned around and made an angry face, and shouted meanly. "Well, are you coming or not?" Dalon rushed up to her, she pointed to his nose, and said. "You're grounded till you find the cure for Syaoran! And no dinner tonight!" Tears ran down Dalon's face like waterfall. "Oh, man."  
  
~~~~~  
  
"It suits you!" Selenda clapped her hands together for satisfaction. She walked around Syaoran to examine him. He looks cute in that little shirt and the little pants. Sakura nodded to her agreement. "She's right, it does." She picked him up, and hugged him. "Sakura~" Syaoran wined as Sakura rubbed her face against him.  
  
Selenda smiled brightly, "Oh, why don't you come to the festival tonight, we're having a ceremony to honor the sand fairy who's been protecting the village for generations." She spun. "And I'm, going to be dancing there!" Sakura cheered. "That's great! We'll be there!" Selenda leaned towards Syaoran. "And there're going to be tons of yummy snacks for you." Syaoran crossed his arms. "Oh, please." He said. "I'm not a child!" Selenda touched his nose. "But for now you are." Syaoran sank into Sakura's arms. "Oh, man."  
  
Then something hit Sakura, "Oh, this festival is for the sand fairy, right?"  
  
Selenda nodded. "She's been protecting this village for generations. Thanks to her, this village isn't effected by sand storms." Sakura put a hand to her chin, and thought [That's why there were a barrier like the one made by the sand card when we arrived.] Sakura looked up, and smiled. "Well, enough blabbing, I'm hungry, let's go!"  
  
~~~~~  
  
There were a lot of stores in the festival; from games to snacks, you name it, they've got it. The atmosphere was very crowded, filled with chatters and music. Sakura browsed around, she bought an apple size candy on a stick for Syaoran, at first he refused, but later he accepted and chewed on the yummy candy like a five year old.  
  
As they wandered around the festival, a man on a unicycle rode around and announced. "The ceremony will begin in a short while, please attend to the outdoor dance floor as soon as possible." Sakura looked down at Syaoran, who was enjoying the candy in her arms, and said. "Selenda's going to be there, let's go!" Syaoran, whose mouth was still eating the candy, nodded. Sakura ran to the outdoor dance floor with Syaoran in her arms. What she didn't know was that a man was behind them.  
  
To be continued. ~~~~~  
  
Okay, that's it for now! Since you gals were rushing me so much, I've decided to make a cliffhanger! Muahahahahahahah.  
  
Piggy Ho Ho '(oo)' Nov. 2, 2000 


	16. Sakura, 5 years old Syaoran, and the gia...

Will Syaoran turn back into a teen? The answer is in chapter 16!  
  
~~~~~  
  
CCS: THE LEGEND OF OMETIN  
  
Chapter 16  
  
~~~~~  
  
Sakura entered the outdoor stage, and picked a middle roll seat. She made her ways through the audiences along that roll, sat down, and put Syaoran on her lap.  
  
Selenda entered the stage with applauses louder than the thunder. She bowled, and then there was silence. Everyone was waiting for her to start, she moved into a post, getting ready to dance, the music started, and the show began.  
  
She moved from on side of the stage to the other, each step she took was soft, and careful. Her delicate movement attracted all the audiences. All, but one person, who sneaked behind the seat of Sakura and Syaoran. Syaoran sensed him, and turned around in Sakura's arms to see who's behind him. He should've guessed; it was Dalon.  
  
".You!" Syaoran whispered, being cautious not to disturb the others. "I thought you were grounded!" Dalon stuck his tongue out. Syaoran's anger gage rose, and tried his hardest to leap out of Sakura's arms. "Alright! That's it, you and me! Outside!" Sakura held him back. "Sy.Syaoran? What are you doing? Settle down!" At last, Syaoran yanked himself out of Sakura's arms, and started to chase after Dalon, who sprinted for the exit. "Syaoran!?" Sakura tried to yell him to stop, but all the audiences shushed her. She squeezed through the roll, and made it to the passage along the seats. But by than, Syaoran and Dalon were long gone.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Dalon was running, but not too fast, so that Syaoran could catch up with his short little legs. Dalon was leading him in to his trap.  
  
They arrived along at the beach. The beach wasn't far away from where the festival was held, but it was deserted. Dalon turned around, and said. "This look like a good fighting spot!"  
  
Syaoran stopped a few feet in front of him. "Good, now let's finish this." He punched his right fist into his left palm, cracking his tiny knuckles, getting ready to fight. Dalon showed a wicked smiled on his face, and said. "Oh, please, do you really think that you can defeat me in that size? I just drew you here so no one can see me hitting a little child. This place is perfect!"  
  
Syaoran started to realize what was he trying to do. He looked around, seeing that Dalon was right, no one can see them fight, protecting Dalon's reputation. Yet, Syaoran wasn't all that dumb either, he know what to do just incase. "We'll see about that!" He rushed up to him, getting ready to punch him in the face. But all Dalon had to do was to use his left hand to push his head, holding him back, Syaoran tried to punch him, but his arms were way too short. "See?" Dalon grinned, Syaoran's anger gage rose even higher, he took Dalon's hand, and bit it. Dalon jumped up screaming. "YYYYYIIIIAAAAAAAWWWWWWWW!!!!!!" Syaoran spitted on the ground. "Ill, his hand was dirty."  
  
Dalon kneeled down before him, and flicked him on the head. "You're even lower than I thought!"  
  
For a moment, there was no sound but the noise of the wave. Syaoran looked up to him, and said. "I still have an ultimate weapon." Dalon backed up a little. "Well, then, show me what you've got!"  
  
On the other side, Selenda finished her performance, and came to meet Sakura. "So, how was it?" Sakura put her hand to her head, and said guiltily. "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention, you see, Syaoran ran off in the middle of the show." Selenda put a finger to her mouth. "That's weird, why would he do that?" Sakura hesitated, and then answered. "Well, I wasn't sure, but I think he was chasing someone that looks like Dalon."  
  
"Dalon!?"  
  
~~~~~  
  
On the beach, Dalon was getting prepared to meet Syaoran's ultimate weapon. He backed up a little more, but Syaoran stayed at the same spot, barely moving.  
  
Syaoran licked his hand, put some salivate on his face, took a deep breathe, and got in to a positioned, and yelled. "WWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!" Then he put his hands to his eyes, and began mission: pretend to cry like a five year old.  
  
Unintelligent, yet effective, Dalon started to panic. "Oh, good grief! Quiet, someone might hear you!" Syaoran looked at him, and narrowed his eyes. "What do you think my original intention was? Break your eardrums with my voice? Of course someone's going to hear me!" Right after that, he went back to pretend crying.  
  
Just then, Dalon knew Syaoran's plan. "You.You! You cheater! Don't you think you're a little to old to do that?" Syaoran looked at him again. "I'm just a five year old kid to the stranger's eyes, they won't know the fact that I'm pretending or the truth that I'm really not a five year old. All they see is you, picking on a little kid." Dalon's face started to turn red; not because of shyness, but because of rage. "You.you."  
  
"What are you going to do now? Flick me again? Sure, show the whole world that you pick on a little kid. Your reputation isn't save now, is it?" Syaoran continued crying.  
  
Fairly soon, people started to gather around the beach. Questions like "What's going on?" and "Why is that kid crying?" filled the air. Right now, Dalon just hope that he had a hole to craw into. Sakura and Selenda arrived. "Syaoran!" Sakura cried. Selenda's face turned from worry to mad. "Dalon!" Both of them rushed down to the beach, Sakura to calm Syaoran down, and Selenda to punch his stupid brother on the head. "You!! What did you do this time?" A tear emerged from Dalon's left eye. "What was that for?" He yelled. Selenda yelled back. "You made him cry! How can you do this to such a small child?"  
  
Dalon couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Get real! He's not really a kid, remember!?" Selenda looked at him meanly and shouted. "Thanks to whom?!"  
  
That really burned Dalon, she was right, it was him who turned him to a five year old. "I.I." He was speechless. All he could do was look at Syaoran, "crying" in Sakura's arms. Syaoran stuck his tongue out; Dalon caught that particular action, and said. "Okay, did you see that?"  
  
"Forget it! Forget it, forget it, forget it, forget it! This is divine punishment for you, mister!" Selenda stared at him madly; there was no way for Dalon to go but to accept it.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Sakura brought Syaoran to the other side of the beach, and tried to calm him. She carried him in her arms, and smoothed his back. "It's alright now, there, there." Syaoran faced her, and said bashfully. "It's okay, Sakura.I was just pretending to give Dalon some juice." Sakura face him madly. "And I thought you were really crying." Syaoran shifted in her arms, and said proudly. "Come on now, I'll never cry."  
  
"Everyone cries sometimes. And now that you're a kid, you can cry even more, come on, express your feelings." Sakura smiled, and patted him on the head. Syaoran blushed, and looked away. "I'm too big for this." Sakura looked at him and touched his nose with hers. "But now you're not too big. Come on, Syaoran, how often can you be five again? For once you can forget everything, just do whatever you want with out having to concern about the other's think of you." Syaoran looked away again. "I don't really want that." Sakura giggled, and said. "That's okay." She hugged him tightly. "This makes you even cuter!" Syaoran wined. "Sakura."  
  
~~~~~  
  
Dalon and Selenda were on their way back to their house when they bumped into Sakura, who held Syaoran in her arms. Dalon eyed Syaoran; Syaoran couldn't help but held on to Sakura. Suddenly, Dalon showed a wicked smile. He looked up, and announced. "You seem to be forgetting something, Syaoran. I am the one who turned you to a five year old, and I'm the only one who can turn you back. And I won't do it, if I don't feel like it."  
  
At that moment, Syaoran almost wished he didn't pretend to cry and blame everything on Dalon's head. Almost. It was still kind of worth it. Selenda yelled at him. "Dalon!" Dalon turned to look at her, and refused to listen. "It's my life! And I won't do what I don't feel like!" Right after finishing that sentence, he ran off. Selenda tried to stop him, but he was gone.  
  
Selenda put one hand to her face, and sighed. "Oh, no.he's serious." Syaoran's mouth dropped almost right away. "Then, does that mean I would never turn back?" Sakura comforted him. "It's okay, we'll find a way." But deep in, she was cheering.  
  
"He can't be that cold blooded." Selenda said. "There's got to be a way to soften him up."  
  
~~~~~  
  
Dalon was working in his laboratory; he thought that even if he decides to not turn Syaoran back to normal, he'd still test out the formula. Just to hold it as his advantage.  
  
The door crept; he turned around to see the late company. Sakura walked in with a bag of food in her hand. "Are you hungry? You've been working all night." Dalon looked back into his research, and tried to concentrate. "I'm not hungry." A second later his tummy grumbled. Sakura giggled. "Come on, special homemade buns." She took one out of the bag. Dalon couldn't resist the temptation; he took one from her hand, put it in his mouth, and drew his attention back to the research.  
  
Sakura just sat there quietly, and watched him. Dalon turned around slowly to check if she was still there, he eyed her, and took the bun out of his mouth to speak. "Do you mind?" Sakura just smiled, and said. "I'll just be a moment."  
  
"I can't concentrate with you sitting there, staring at me."  
  
"I know, you need the concentration, just to help Syaoran turn back to what he used to be, right?"  
  
"Hey, I'm not doing this for him. This might be useful for my patients." Dalon pulled a chair and sat down.  
  
"Just an excuse."  
  
"What?"  
  
"I knew it, deep in, you're really not a bad person." Sakura tilted her head, and smiled.  
  
Dalon blushed, and looked away. "Try not to judge me too quickly."  
  
Sakura smiled again, she looked down at the floor, and lightly wiggled her legs around. "I really want you to help him.if you may."  
  
Dalon looked at her from the corner of his eyes, she sat there gracefully, and her feet were lightly smoothing the floor. His heart suddenly skipped a beat; he looked away again. Sakura looked up, and said. "Just do it for me.okay?" Dalon couldn't look at her, he wasn't sure of what she really meant. "Why.why do you care so much.?"  
  
"Because I really care.you know, like the way a girl cares for a boy?" She thought of Syaoran, and then she remembered that she hasn't told Syaoran how she feels about him yet. Then she remembered the way Yoki warned her. "Tell him before it's too late." She felt a shiver came on to her, and rubbed her arms.  
  
Unfortunately, Dalon took it all wrong. [Like the way a girl cares for a boy? Oh, my goodness, she has a crush on me!!] He stood up, and looked at his research. "I.I can't answer you on that yet! Why.why don't you come back later?"  
  
Sakura nodded, and took off. Dalon's heartbeat was racing. [Oh no oh no oh no.what should I do??? I only like Selenda, and now I'm not sure anymore.] He stopped, and thought deeply. [Then again, what can I do if I don't accept her? I'm not sure Selenda would ever accept the fact that I literately love her! And even though she does, what would the others think of us? Seeing sisters and brothers marry isn't what you see everyday, rumors would spread, people would stare and point.I can't take that.]  
  
Dalon put a tube of potion down, and made up his mind. "Okay, my mind has made up. I've decided to give Sakura a chance!" He paused for a second, and then turned back to his research. [Whom am I talking to.?]  
  
~~~~~  
  
"Hmm.this isn't going well at all." Selenda said, as she gathered around with Sakura and Syaoran, discussing what to do in order to turn Syaoran back to normal. "The problem is." Sakura said. "That Dalon is the only one who can help Syaroan.but he's mad at him. I tried to soften him up, but he just kicked me out." She played with Syaoran's little hands.  
  
Syaoran said, sitting on Sakura's lap. "And you can forget about me apologizing. I am not going to do that."  
  
Selenda sighed, "You're both so stubborn.if only one of you would back down."  
  
"Hey, he called me a pervert!" Syaoran shouted. Then it hit Sakura. "Wait.that's it, he's only mad at you because he thinks that you're interested in Selenda." Syaoran turned to Sakura. "But I'm not!" He argued. Sakura waved her index finger. "That's right, so if we can only tell him that, he might not be mad at you!"  
  
Selenda clapped her hands together. "What a great idea!" Syaoran looked at both of them. "But how? He won't believe it if we just tell him. Don't you think I've tried that before?" All three of them lowered their heads to think. For thirty minutes, they couldn't come up with a single idea. Syaoran yawed; Sakura looked down to him, and smiled. "It's time for your bed time."  
  
Syaoran blinked sleepily. "I don't need to sleep." But then he snuggled in Sakura's chest, and yawed again. Sakura stood up, and took him into their room. "Let's call it a night." Selenda nodded, and agreed. "Yeah, okay. Goodnight, you two." Sakura left the room; Selenda stood up, and blew the candle.  
  
Sakura took Syaoran back to their bed, and gently tugged him in. She smoothed his hair. "Goodnight, Syaoran, do you want me to sing you a lullaby?" Syaoran rubbed his eyes sleepily, and answered. "Sure." Afterward, Sakura started singing. The beautiful melody flew in the air; Syaoran slowly closed his eyes, and went to sleep. When Sakura finished singing, she said. "Do you like it? My mother used to sing it to me when I was little.Syaoran?" Just then, she realized that Syaoran was asleep. She smiled to herself, watching how cute he is. Moments later, she changed into pajamas, and got into bed with Syaoran next to her.  
  
~~~~~  
  
"I'll fight till the end for the sake of your safety."  
  
"Who.who are you.? Why.are you doing this for me?" Sakura mumbled in her dream. Just when she was going to see who was talking to her, she was interrupted by a loud noise.  
  
Selenda stumbled across the hallway. She slammed the door open, regardless of the fact that people were sleeping in there, she shouted. "I've got it!" Both Sakura and Syaoran woke up in respond to her unusual wake up call. "W.what?" They both sat up and asked drowsily, Selenda continued. "A way to convinced to Dalon that Syaoran isn't interested in me! Syaoran can turn back to normal!"  
  
"Hoe?" Sakura and Syaoran were suddenly awoken.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Dalon yawed as he walked down the hall. "Oh man, working in the lab the whole night really puts me into a crummy mood." He scratched his head lazily, and then he remembered the things Sakura said to him last night, he smiled to himself. "It'd be nice to have a normal crush for once." He turned into the kitchen. The first thing he noticed was Selenda, Sakura and Syaoran, all cuddled up to discuss something; he could hear Syaoran said, "No, I refuse to go with that!"  
  
"What the heck are you people doing?" Dalon asked, as he walked closer to them. They all turned around, and smiled. "Oh.nothing." Selenda said. Though sweat drops were rolling down her head.  
  
"Yeah, I believe you." Dalon said sarcastically. "Just what the heck are you up to?" Selenda smiled brightly, and said. "Well, we've got a surprise for you!" She took him to Sakura and Syaoran, who looked like they were arguing. "I won't do it!" Syaoran whispered. His face was unusually red. Sakura was trying to convince him. "Oh, come on, Syaoran." Once Dalon came to them, Sakura quickly picked up Syaoran, and put him in her arms.  
  
Dalon tilted his head, couldn't get what on earth were they thinking. Selenda walked around to Sakura with Syaoran in her arms, and said. "Well, it turns out that you don't really need to worry about the fact that Syaoran's interested in me anymore!" Dalon put his arms on his waist, and eyed her. "Oh, yeah?" He said, having doubts on whether or not it was true. He let her continued. "Really!" She cheered, as she patted Sakura's shoulders, whose face became pinkish. "Because, he's already interested in someone else, in fact, he and she are already a couple for years!" Sakura lowered her head a little, but there was a smile on her face.  
  
Dalon still didn't get what was happening. "Huh?" He asked. The Selenda leaned closer to Sakura; he looked at Sakura, she smile at him a little shyly. After, he looked at Syaoran, who was in her arms, sinking, and face so red that he couldn't even look at Dalon. Right there and then, Dalon slowly got it. "Ah.ah." He pointed to Sakura, and pointed to Syaoran, then back to Sakura again. "You.and you.and you!" His voice was kind of shaky. He couldn't believe it, his only chance of having a normal relationship, blew away because of Syaoran.  
  
"But.but.you said something like girl.cares for boys." Dalon stopped, and looked at Syaoran. "Oh.it's you.it's always you." Selenda patted his brother's shoulder. "Well, now that you understand that Syaoran wasn't up to no good, why don't you be a nice little boy and turn him back?"  
  
Dalon laughed, but his laughter sounded hopeless and evil. "Turn him back? Ha! That would be impossible! You, I've never hated you more! I will never, ever, turn you back, you're bound to live as a five year old forever!"  
  
That stroke Syaoran like lightning, Selenda stood up, and yelled. "Dalon!" Dalon turned to her, and yelled back, "Look, my mind has made up, I'll never, ever do it! And you can't do anything about it, because I am the only one in Ometin can turn him back!" Selenda's was sad and furious at the same time. Dalon ran off, and Selenda ran after him. Leaving Sakura with Syaoran looking shocked in her arms.  
  
~~~~~  
  
The sea was quite today; the waves were slow and little. Sakura and Syaoran sat next to the rocky shore, and stared at the ocean. Sakura tried to cheer Syaoran up; she put him on her lap. "You know, he's wrong, you won't be a five year old forever." Syaoran looked up, waiting for her to go on. "Everyone grows. In five years you'll be back to normal." Sakura forced a smile. Syaoran just went back to staring lifelessly at the sea. Sakura wiped the smile off her face, and watch the sea with Syaoran.  
  
Seconds later, Syaoran broke out with a loud cry. "Wahh~!" Tears came down on his face; he looked like a child helplessly lost, separated from his family. That caught Sakura by surprise. She tried to calm him like a real five year old. "There, there, don't cry, I thought you said you're not really a kid, and shouldn't really cry." Syaoran rubbed his eyes. "Wah.and I thought you said I should express myself while I have the chance to be five again."  
  
Sakura hesitated. "Um.that." Syaoran broke her off. "Oh, what's the point, I can never turn back, might as well start acting like a real five year old." Sakura didn't know what to say, she looked at him sorrowfully. Syaoran went on. "I can't protect you anymore, and kids that're ten would reject me, I would be a weirdo who doesn't act my age. No one would want to be around me. No one would even want to marry me when I grow up, because all of the women my age would be older than me."  
  
Sakura couldn't remain silence anymore. "You.you'll still have me!" Syaoran stopped crying, and slowly looked up. Sakura blushed a little, and continued. "Even when the whole world rejects you, I'll still be by your side, I'll never reject you. And I'll protect you.and I'll never, ever look at you as a weirdo.and even when you don't act your age, I won't mind." She paused, and then went on. "And.and when no one wants to marry you.when you grow up.I'll be you bride." Syaoran was surprised at her words. She hugged him tightly. "But.by then.you'll have to be the one who won't mind.because.I am going to be the one who's old and cranky."  
  
Syaoran couldn't believe what he was hearing. Right there and then, his girl of his dream is telling him that she'll be his bride. Sakura slowly release him from the hug, and looked at him passionately. "I.I."  
  
Her words were interrupted by a big wave that was coming to their way. Syaoran grabbed her hand, and started to charge towards inland. Sakura looked back, knowing that they're not going to make it. The wave was catching on to them too quickly. Syaoran realized that too, so he dived into the nearest crack between the rocks along the beach, and took Sakura down with him. The wave hit the rocky shore, and died down. The water went into the cracks, and right up to Syaoran's nose. When the water drifted back, Syaoran was pulled away with it. Sakura yelled, and grabbed his hand just in time. "Syaoran! Hold on!" The water finally died down, they got up, and looked towards the angry sea.  
  
More waves are on the way. Sakura and Syaoran both nodded at each other, they knew the most important thing, is to evacuate the people who live close to the shore. They ran to knock on houses along the cost line, and warned them about the wave. Selenda lived more into the inland area, so her house was safe, but she could see the wave from were she was. Wind was blowing harder, she exclaimed. "How could it be? We never have waves this big. Something's wrong!" Just then, Dalon slipped by her, and ran towards the cost. "Blab later, we've got to help the villagers to evacuate! Come on!" Their neighbours are rushing out of their houses to help, too. Selenda ran after them.  
  
Mean while; Sakura was helping an old lady and her grandson to get out of their house. "Come on, we've got no time!" A big wave hit, some villagers' houses were hit, and people tried their best to grab on. Houses made out of sand were melting away. People tried to run as far away from the beach as possible. But at the same time, more people are rushing in to help them out.  
  
It was a disaster. Everything was a total mess. Another wave hit, people formed chains by holding on to each other, hand by hand, pulling back with all they might. Syaoran helped an old man to get on to his wheel chair. "Okay, there you go." Another villager came by, and drove the old man away. Syaoran looked back at the sea. "It's weird.that lady said the wave should never gets to the houses."  
  
As he stared at the thundering waves, he caught something in his sight somewhere behind the waves. He gasped, recognizing what it was. "It..it's a."  
  
Syaoran charged towards the shore. Sakura looked back, seeing him did so, she tried to stop him. "Syaoran!" She yelled. "What are you doing?" Syaoran looked back, but he didn't stop running. "There's a big whale in the ocean, that thing is causing those waves!" Sakura gasped. "What?" Syaoran kept running. "I'll have to take care of it!" Sakura immediately ran after him. "You can't! It's too dangerous!"  
  
Dalon was helping people to get out of their houses; he looked back, and saw Sakura, running towards the waves. "Sakura! What are you doing?" He ran after her, as his sister caught up with him. "Dalon?" She asked, following him closely.  
  
Syaoran reached the seashore. The wave was headed for him. He took out his sword, and used the wind charm to over come the wave. He took another charmed and used it. "Floating steps!" Magic power surrounded his feet. He ran on the water, Sakura could only follow him to the point where the water began. "Syaoran!"  
  
Syaoran came up against a few waves before he finally got to the whale; the whale spotted him, and flapped its gigantic tail at him. Syaoran was hit right on the face, it sent him right back to the shore. Sakura saw him flying towards her, she reached out her arms, ready to catch him, but instead, another pair of arms reached out before her, and caught him. It was Dalon, Syaoran hit him hard on the chest, and the force kept pushing them until his back hit the rock. He slowly fell down; both Sakura and Selenda ran towards him. "Dalon!"  
  
Selenda helped him up. Sakura picked up Syaoran, who was in his arms. "Syaoran, are you okay?" Syaoran shook his head to regain consciousness, and blanked. "I'm okay." He said. Sakura looked at Dalon, who slowly got up. "Thank you for catching him for me." Dalon looked at both of them. "No problem. But why on earth are you running towards that wave. Trying to suicide?"  
  
"There's a whale there that's causing the wave, I'll have to stop it." Syaoran said. Both Selenda and Dalon reacted with a "Huh?" But there was no time for explanation. Sakura tried to talk Syaoran out of it. "But look at you, you're way too small to battle! Syaoran came back to her. "But I'm the only one who can!" Sakura shook her head wildly. "No! We're in this together! We're both the legendary heroes! It's not just you!"  
  
Selenda and Dalon reacted with another, "What?"  
  
Before Sakura had time to answer Selenda and Dalon's questions, Sakura already flopped off towards the whale. Syaoran ran after her. "No! Sakura!" He reached to the side of the ocean, and couldn't go any further. He couldn't do anything but watch. He held his fist together, and slammed it into the sand. "If only I'm my normal self!" Dalon felt guilty, if he hadn't turned him into a kid in the first place, Sakura won't be in danger. He turned, and started to run back to his laboratory.  
  
Chocy zoomed by him, Syaoran heard Chocy's footsteps, and turned around. "Chocy!" He jumped on Chocy, and commanded. "Alright, Chocy, run along the shore!" Selenda stood up, and said. "What are you doing?" But before she got an answer, they already took off.  
  
Back in the laboratory, Dalon was trying his best to figure out the trick in the magic dust. "I don't get it, I gave him five ml of this." He tried testing it on the laboratory mouse, but it just isn't right. "Okay, if this isn't.wait a minute.five ml?" He ran through his notes, and continued the experiment.  
  
Mean while, Sakura was dodging the whale's attracts, and finding its weakness at the same time. "If this is one of the missioners, then it's got to have a tattoo somewhere." She flopped around it, and then finally, she spotted it, the tattoo, right about its eyes. It was only a size of a palm; it wasn't easy spotting a thing that small on something that big. Sakura took out the arrow card, and was about to shoot it when it hit her with water gun, blasting through is air hole. "Ahh!" Sakura yelled.  
  
Syaoran heard Sakura screamed, and told Chocy to run faster. They tried to get as close to the whale as possible, not an easy task when you're on land. The reached the point where you can't go any further. The land narrowed down, and ended. Syaoran took out his sword, and jumped off Chocy. He took out his charm, and yelled. "Lighting!" The lighting conducted through the water, but it wasn't strong enough to reach the whale, it was too far away. Syaoran said. "It's no good, I can't do it in this form.I need to turn back to a teenager!"  
  
"You're wrong!" A voice yelled. Syaoran turned back, seeing that it was Selenda, running up to him. "You can do it, no matter what form you're in, because it isn't your size that counts, it's what's in your heart that really matters.  
  
Syaoran looked at her in the eyes, she was filled with determination. Syaoran nodded, turned around and tried again. He took a deep breath, and yelled. "Lighting!"  
  
It was working; the lighting was conducting towards the whale in a fast speed. It stroked it hard, and it was paralyzed. Sakura looked back to the shore to see who did that. Syaoran stood there, and gave her a thumb up; she nodded, knowing what to do.  
  
"Arrow!" She commanded. Arrows shot down on to the whale's body like a meteor shower. One of the arrows hit its tattoo, and its body burst into bubbles, leaving a soul shining in the water. Sakura flopped down, and took out her Angel wing crystal to suck up the soul.  
  
Immediately, she flew back to Syaoran. She landed beside him, and called back the fly card. Syaoran looked at her with a smile on his face, and passed away. "Syaoran!" Sakura ran towards him, Selenda caught him, and felt his forehead. "He's fine." She said gently. "He's just too tired from using the Lighting magic. You know, that whale was more than a mile away."  
  
Sakura smiled, and took Syaoran from her arms. The waves had died down, and they started to walk back to their house.  
  
~~~~~  
  
"I did it!" Dalon popped out when they came back from the fight. Both girls had a sweat drop rolled down from their faces. "What.did you do?" Selenda asked.  
  
Dalon pointed towards the sand in his hand. "I figured out how to turn Syaoran back!" The girls gasped.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Syaoran, age eleven, tall and handsome for his age, put a medium size shirt on is back-to-normal body. [Phew.it's sure great to be a teen again.] Someone knocked on the door, Syaoran yelled, "Who is it?" as he put on his headband.  
  
"It's Sakura." The voice replied, "Are you done yet?" Syaoran tied a nod behind his head, and answered. "Yeah, come in." Sakura walked in, and looked at him with a strange expression. She walked closer as Syaoran got suspicious over her movements. She stretched out one hand and petted him on the head, a drop of sweat appeared on Syaoran's head. Her eyes became watery, and said. "Oh.you're not five anymore.that means I won't be about to lift you up, pet you on the head or.give you candy."  
  
"Enough, Sakura!" Syaoran said. "I am so glad to be back to my normal self." That reminded Sakura, she went on with the things she misses. ".Or hear you call me 'Sakoowa'.oh.I miss the little you." Syaoran almost fainted. "Sakura! Get over it already!"  
  
Mean while, Dalon was pouring the magic sand into the ocean, and burning the formula that created the sand. He untied the knot on the bag, and poured the sand into the water. Selenda walked up to him, and asked. "What are you doing?" She sounded cheerful and delighted, like a little girl.  
  
Dalon looked at her, and stared back at the ocean. "Destroying evidence. These things shouldn't exist; it's against the rule of nature to age backwards." The last drop of sand was spilled into the ocean; Selenda went up to his, put both hands on his shoulder, and put her chin on it. "You know, you're quite mature sometimes."  
  
Dalon blushed, and nodded shyly. Selenda looked at ocean. "One more thing."  
  
Dalon replied. "Yeah?"  
  
"Don't dump it into the ocean next time." The looked into the water, the fishes were going nuts, some of them were older than it should be, and some of them are back to being an infant fish, the dust was effecting the fishes. Dalon nodded. "Gotcha."  
  
~~~~~  
  
"Phew, I'm glad that the whole thing is over." Syaoran relaxed, and sat back, leaning on Sakura as they traveled down the road on Chocy's back. Sakura showed a wicked smile, and said. "No totally." She reached into her pocket, and pulled out a little pouch, Syaoran tensed up, and looked at it. "Huh??"  
  
"Dalon gave me one of these goodies before we left! He taught me how to use it, too! He said to turn you into a five year old, give you 5ml, to turn you back to eleven, give you 11ml. So this bag have enough to turn you into five.let's see.a lot of times!"  
  
Syaoran looked at it with fear. "Oh.no.AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!"  
  
To be continued. 


	17. Christmas, Chocy, & the fairies

It isn't what it seems...come see chapter 17! ~~~~~ "I'll fight till the end for the sake of your safety..." CCS: LEGEND OF OMETIN Chapter 17 ~~~~ The sun beamed upon Sakura as they traveled down the road. "Wow...it sure is sunny..." Sakura exclaimed. "I wonder how is it back in the real world?" She thought to herself. As they walked, they saw a little stream that ran down the mountain, so they decided to take a little break, and have a little fresh water. Sakura splashed herself with fresh spring water, and sighed. "Ah...it's so refreshing...! We don't see streams like this back in Tokyo..." Syaoran cupped his hand, and tasted the water. "Yeah," he agreed. "Everything's polluted, you can even see streams anymore." Sakura wiped her face, and reached for the towel in her backpack. As she took out the towel, something slipped out along with it. "Hoe?" she said, picked it up.  
  
It was a digital watch; Sakura was wearing that when they dropped into Ometin. "Hey, look!" She cheered. "It's my watch, and it's still running!" Syaoran turned around, and said. "Really?" He stood up, and walked towards Sakura. She looked closely, seeing the month coulomb showed "12", and the date coulomb showed "22".  
  
"Hey..." Sakura exclaimed. "If we've been in the real world, it's almost Christmas!" Syaoran made a face. "Woah! Really? How long were we here?" Sakura tilted her head, and began to calculate. "Let's see...the day you asked me out was the Sunday...June the 17th, so...it's almost half a year!" Syaoran blushed a little. "...You remembered the exact day when I asked you out?" Sakura's face turned red, and said. "Well...it's the first time anyone had asked me out...so..."  
  
None of them talked for a moment. Then finally, Chocy broke the silence. "Wark wark!" It cried behind a few bushes. "What is it?" Sakura asked, and walked up to him along with Syaoran. She saw him pointing to what looks like a town in a distance. Sakura exclaimed. "Yeah! A town! Let's head towards it!" She started running, Chocy followed close behind her. Syaoran just stood there, staring at them. "Man, why on earth are they so energetic? "Come on, Syaoran!" Sakura waved, Syaoran snapped out of it, and followed them. "Oh...wait for me!" They entered a crowded town; it was filled with merchants all over Ometin. "Wow." Sakura exclaimed. Chocy looked from left to right. Everything was so colourful, that it hurts its eyes. Syaoran caught up to them, he looked around, and said. "Woe, it's pretty crowded here. This must be a trading town. Just like Tokyo."  
  
"Syaoran~!! Let's look around!" Sakura was especially excited. She already ran off when she finished her sentence. "Sa...Sakura!" Syaoran yelled. He couldn't do anything but to follow her.  
  
Sakura's eyes shined as she scanned all the beautiful goods from all over the world. She liked them all. "That beautiful girl over there." A beard man said, "This lovely golden necklace would certainly suit you. Why don't I sell it to you for only 35 ominian?"  
  
Sakura blushed. "Oh...I'm not really that beautiful..." She cupped her cheeks with her hands. Syaoran grabbed her hand, and pulled her out of the crowd. "He's just trying to make a sale." Sakura made an angry expression. "I know."  
  
Syaoran dragged Sakura out of the crowd, and said. "Just leave. We've got no time for this. We have to keep on moving." Sakura made a long face, she wanted to stay and shop. Suddenly, something clicked in Sakura's mind, and she yanked off Syaoran's hand. "It's Christmas!"  
  
"So?" Syaoran looked back and asked.  
  
"So it's a reason for us to start buying stuffs!" She grabbed Syaoran's hand and started to cuddle against him like a kitten. "Please...pretty please..." Syaoran blushed, and agreed. "Alright, fine..." Sakura released him, and jumped. "Yeah!"  
  
An hour later, Syaoran and Chocy were sitting on a bench while waiting for Sakura to show up after her shopping. It seems like a year before she finally showed her face. "Okay, I'm done." She came out with a little bag in her hand. Syaoran leaned closer, and asked. "Hey, what'd you got there?" Sakura turned away, and yelled. "No peeking!" Then she showed a smile along with a little blush. "It's for you."  
  
Syaoran's face turned red. "M...me?" He asked, pointing to himself. Sakura nodded shyly, "For always protecting me. But you can't open it till Christmas, okay? It's not...complete, yet." Syaoran put his hand to his head. "Gees, thanks!" They smiled to each other, and then all of a sudden, a sales man interrupted them. "Come, try the new chocobo nuts! It's got the power to boost up the power of your chocobo, increasing its speed ten times higher! Buy it now!" He said, before Sakura and Syaoran knew what happened, he grabbed Syaoran by the hand. "You! You own a chocobo, why don't you try some of these?" He took out a few samples from his pocket. "Here."  
  
Syaoran looked at the strangely shaped nuts, not sure whether or not to give them to Chocy. Sakura went beside him, and stared at the nuts. "It looks pretty poisonous..." She said, "I'm not sure Chocy would like this kind of nuts." Chocy jumped up, saying "Wark?" Meaning "Did someone say nuts?" He looked into Syaoran's hands; his mouth drooled, and pecked the nuts off his hands. "Wark!" It cheered brightly.  
  
As soon as he started chewing, his face turned all red. "Ch...Chocy?" Sakura and Syaoran leaned closer to him, and waited for his reaction. "WWWWWWAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRKKKKKK!!!!" It jumped, and went berserk. "Calm down, Chocy!" Syaoran jumped onto him to try and calm him down. "Chocy??" Sakura said, Chocy just ran around in circle, knocking down goods and products that were being sold. Sakura turned around, and look at the salesman. "What was that you gave him?"  
  
The salesman said proudly. "Nuts with the only ingredients that can boost up a chocobo's strength in a short time." Sakura tilted her head, not sure what was he talking about. He went on. "Hot pepper, and plenty of it." Sakura almost fainted. She turned around, seeing Chocy running off to the other end of the road, she yelled. "Chocy!" Then she ran off, chasing him.  
  
She finally caught up to him with a few short cuts. "Sa...Sakura!" Syaoran looked behind, seeing Sakura was already at Chocy's heel, and shouted. "I can't control him, I'll try to bring him away from the crowd!" He stretched out one hand, and yelled. "Grab on!" Sakura grabbed on to his hand, and jumped on Chocy's back with a little pull from Syaoran.  
  
Chocy increased his speed, Syaoran lost balance, and grabbed onto Chocy's head. Sakura wrapped her arms around Syaoran's waist tightly. "HHOOOEEEE!!" Sakura screamed. Syaoran looked back, and asked. "Can't you do something with your cards?" He asked. Sakura shook her head. "If I let go, I'll fall off Chocy! I can't use my hands!"  
  
Chocy kept stomping down the road, until the reached the town exit. "Well, at least we're out of the crowd!" Syaoran said. Sakura yelled. "Yeah, but where are we going? When will Chocy stop?"  
  
"I really don't know..." Syaoran answered. Sakura was afraid of that. Chocy charged down the road like nothing else matters.  
  
~~~~~  
  
"Where...are we?" Sakura said, as she squeezed the water out of her clothes. Chocy had trembled into an unknown forest, and ran into a small river with waterfall. He had cooled down once he hit the water. That was the good news, but the bad news is, Sakura and Syaoran were soaked.  
  
"I think we're in some kind of...forest..." Syaoran said. Just then, and owl made a "hoot" noise. Sakura tightened her shoulders; she didn't like this place one bit. "Let's get out of here..."  
  
"How?" Syaoran asked. "We don't know which way did we come from, so much for where to go." He said. Sakura shivered. "Well, at least find a shelter or some sort, I'm getting chilly..."  
  
"Where?" Syaoran asked. "This place looks pretty deserted..."  
  
All of a sudden, Chocy heard something. "Wark!" Chocy said, pointing his wing to one direction, then rushed off. "Great, Chocy, you got us into this, you get us out of it." Syaoran said. Sakura followed them. "Let's just hope he wouldn't get us even more lost."  
  
Once they walked down a hill, they saw a village...that's made out of mushrooms. "What a weird village." Sakura said. "Looks like one of those place the dwarfs live in the fairytales." They looked around, seeing that no one was there. "Where are the people?" Sakura asked. Syaoran followed. "If it IS people that live here."  
  
They went into one of the houses. "Hello?" Sakura yelled, but there was no answer. The place looked like a hotel, it has a counter, and a stairs that led up to the resting rooms. There was a sigh on the counter. They walked closer, looking at the sigh. It said. "Please feel free to use any supplies in this village" Sakura looked around. "I guess they all moved." Syaoran frowned. "All of them?"  
  
Sakura turned around. "Do you think we can use the supplies?" Syaoran hesitated. "I don't know...it seems pretty suspicious..." Before he even finished the sentence, Sakura jumped, and pointed towards and sigh. "Oh! They have hot spring! I've got to take a bath! I just can't stand wet clothes!" She ran towards to door with the sigh next to it. Chocy followed her. "Hey...wait!" Syaoran yelled.  
  
Before she entered the hot spring, she saw a little cupboard with pajamas. She took it, and ran in to take a nice hot bath. "What a nice hotel! It's got hot spring, pajamas, and it's even free!"  
  
She signed as she sank into the water. "This is life..." she relaxed, and closed her eyes.  
  
"Watch out, Sakura." Syaoran said from the other side of the wall. He splashed himself with hot water while enjoying the hot spring in the men's side of the bath. "This is really suspicious, I don't trust it." He said.  
  
Sakura swam closer to the wall that separated them. "But you're bathing in the hot spring." She said with a smile on her face. Syaoran remained silence for a second, and then said. "I just hate wet clothes." Sakura giggled, and went back to relax.  
  
~~~~~  
  
"Jingle Bells.Jingle Bells." Sakura sang as she skipped down the hallway, now clean, and dry. She was wearing a Japanese style robe with light blue waves as patterns. Chocy heard her voice, and came up to her. "Wark..." Sakura petted him, and said cheerfully. "Hey, Chocy. Christmas is coming, isn't it great?"  
  
Chocy angled its head, not understanding what Christmas is. Sakura smiled, and then went on. "Christmas is a holiday back in our world. It's the season when everyone shares their love, and give presents to each other!" Sakura put a hand to her face, and started to imagine the perfect Christmas. "There'll be candles and Christmas trees, and the sky will filled with white snow, floating its way to the ground..."  
  
"We don't even know if it does snow here in Ometin." Syaoran showed up behind them, Sakura woke up from her daydream, and turned around to look at Syaoran. He was wearing a robe similar to Sakura's, but a bit different. Sakura giggled, and put her hand to her head. "He he...yeah..." She stuck out her tongue.  
  
As time passes, they realized that they haven't eaten anything since breakfast, and both of their tummies are rumbling like the roar of a lion. They looked around the hotel to find food, but none were found. They moved out to see if they have food in some other mushroom houses, to their surprise, they found hot steaming food lying all over a table in one of the mushroom houses. Judging by the tables and the chairs, Syaoran'd say that it is a restaurant, or at least it used to be. The question is, where were all the people, and who made the food?  
  
Syaoran wasn't going to even touch the suspicious looking munchies, but Sakura already dug in before Syaoran could stop her. "The sign in the hotel did say feel free to use any supplies in this village! Forget about all those suspicious things, I'm hungry!" Sakura said. Syaoran could do nothing but to sit down and eat with her. Chocy didn't see anything he likes on the table, so he moved into the kitchen to find some nuts.  
  
That night, Sakura and Syaoran had their separate rooms. Since it was an empty hotel, Sakura had decided to give Chocy his own room. Chocy was very excited about that. Around ten o'clock, Sakura was staying up late to finish off Syaoran's present. She sewed the tiny thing in her hand, and sighed. "Phew...I'm not too good at sewing..." Just then, Chocy walked in. "Wark..." He said gently. Sakura smiled, and said. "What's wrong? Can't sleep?" Chocy shook his head, and walked closer to her. "Wark wark?" He asked. Sakura looked at the present she was working on. "This? This is Syaoran's present." She smiled. "It's not finished, though."  
  
"Wark wark..." Chocy said quietly. Sakura nodded. "Don't worry, I'll go to sleep soon. Why don't you go back to your room?" Chocy nodded, and left her room. Moments later, they all fell asleep.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Outside the hotel, some people were watching.  
  
"He he... we've got two preys!"  
  
"Calm down, we don't want to wake them up. Just wait for a little while...till the sleep medicine they ate in their food totally sinks in, and then we'll take them..."  
  
"Don't worry, I won't screw up! Wee! I'm so excited! We haven't have human here for a long time~!"  
  
"Me too. I just can't wait to get them."  
  
~~~~~  
  
Chocy woke up in the middle of the night, thinking that he hear something, he got up, and checked out the noise. He saw lights coming out of Sakura's room, so he tipped toe forward, and peeked to see what was going on.  
  
Chocy couldn't believe what was he looking at. Fairies were flying around in the room. They were fairies that were no bigger than the size of a Barbie doll, they have wings, and all of them are girls; some were pinching Sakura's face, making sure that the drug they gave her worked, the others were looking through her stuffs. "Useless craps..." One said, after coming out of Sakura's backpack. "Nothing here."  
  
A fairy flew near Sakura's neck, and drew out her necklace. "This is cheap stuff." She dropped it, and looked at the others. "Anything good over there?" Another fairy was playing with Syaoran's present that Sakura was making. "This looks nice, I've never seen things like this one before. What do you suppose it is?" The others shook their head. "I don't know...let's just bring it back to the queen along with the girl."  
  
Chocy jerked, and jumped up. "Wark~!!" He opened the door, and tried to shoot them away by flopping its wings. The fairies flew around it, "What's its problem?" Some said. "Silly bird. Stop flopping your silly wings."  
  
Chocy wouldn't stop. [I would never let you take Sakura and her present~! She spent so much time on it!] He thought, and flopped its wings even harder. One fairy couldn't stand it anymore. "That's it you dodo!" Magic power gathered in her hands as she pointed her fingers at Chocy like a gun, she fired it at Chocy. Chocy was rolled all the way back to the hallway, and landed upside down.  
  
Chocy slowly opened its eyes. He saw Syaoran, lifted out of his room in his sleep by some fairies; they were using magic power to carry him out. Chocy jumped. "WARK~!!" It ran towards them, trying to stop them from taking Syaoran. All the fairies looked around to see a mad chocobo charging up to them. "WAHHH! WHAT THE HACK IS THAT??"  
  
They got into a big fight; it was a real mess. After ten minutes. Chocy finally fell. All the fairies were breathing heavily; most of them have scratches and messy hairs. "Oh...man...this bird sure can fight..." One of them said. "Now...let's go..." They started to drag Syaoran and Sakura away again. Chocy didn't give up that easily. He leaped up, and used his beak to grab on to Syaoran's sleeve. All the fairies looked at it, sweat drops rolled down on their head. They kept moving. "I don't have anymore energy to put up with that bird." One of them said.  
  
"Me either." The other said.  
  
"Let's just bring it back together and show it to the queen." They dragged him along with Sakura and Syaoran.  
  
~~~~~  
  
"We're back, you're majesty..." The troop said tiredly as they arrived at the doorway of a flowered shape palace. An intense looking fairy came out to greed them. She has long black hair, and dark violet tights with ball shape jewelries on. She looked at her troops, and said with a serious voice. "How disgraceful, you all look like dirty flies. All beat and worn out."  
  
One of the fairies answered. "I'm sorry, my lady, we ran into some trouble on our way..."  
  
"Silence!" The black hair fairy yelled. "I don't want to hear your excuses. Did you bring the preys?"  
  
The fairies nodded lightly. They looked at each other, not sure whether to bring out their captures or not. The black hair fairy couldn't wait any longer. She shouted. "Well? Bring it out!" The others could do nothing but to follow. The brought out Sakura and Syaoran, the black hair fairy examined them. "Hmm...hmm...hmm..." The fairies were anxious to hear a respond. "So...?" One of them dared to ask. The black hair fairy took a deep breath, and said. "How cute~!"  
  
Almost immediately, all the fairies in the palace fell hard on the floor. "The queen can never resist cute stuffs, now can she?" One of the fairies said as they got up. The queen turned around, and announced. "I want them in my room! Now move!" Just then, she realized that something was behind Syaoran. She flew around him to look, realizing that there was a bird looking thing holding on to Syaoran. That was Chocy...  
  
"Oh? Who might this little fellow be?" The queen asked. One of the fairies went up to her and answered. "It wouldn't let go when we tried to take the preys away." The queen examined Chocy; Chocy stared at her with a mean looking pair of eyes. The queen felt the intension, and backed up a little. "Give it to Faira, she likes birds." One of the fairies answered with strength. "Yes, your majesty. We'll send it to the princess's room right away!" But as they turned around to try and take Chocy away, they realized that it was impossible. Chocy would never let go of the Syaoran's sleeve.  
  
Just then, and cheerful fairy arrived. "Hi, mother, hi, everyone. What's up?" She flopped her wings into the room, and landed smoothly beside her mother. The queen looked around, and greeted. "Oh, hi, Faira darling, say, you're pretty good with birds, how'd you like to get this thing off of my cute new preys?" Faira didn't understand what she was saying. The queen waved her hand, signing her to see for herself. Faira peeked, and her eyes glowed as she saw Chocy, "Wow! It's a chocobo~!! Where'd you get it?? I've always wanted one of those." She flew over to pet Chocy, Chocy got annoyed, and tried to bite her hand, Faira took back her hand right away, she was lucky or her whole arm would've been chopped off.  
  
"Gees, you're not too bright, are you?" She said, rubbing her hand to make sure that it was still there. The queen flew closer to her, and asked. "Well, any idea?" Faira put her hand to her chins, thinking. A light bald lid up, and she clapped her hands together. "Oh, I know~!" She flew out of the big room. "I'll be right back!"  
  
She came back with a nut. It was only the size of a ping-pong ball, but to her, it was as big as her head. She had a hard time flying out, but she did it. "Here, chocobo...I got your favorite food..." She held it up, and Chocy's eyes glowed as he saw the nut, but it shook its head wildly. [No!] It thought to itself. [I must resist...the...temptation!] He shut his eyes, but as he opened up a little to peek, Faira was right in front of him with the nut in her hand. Chocy freaked out, and jumped. "Wark~!"  
  
Faira held the nut, and flew farther away. "Here, chocobo, here..." Chocy stared at the nut. [I...can't hold it anymore...I want the nut...] He stared at the nut like nothing else in the world exists, and followed it. As it got closer, it bit, and swallowed the nut.  
  
Faira stared. Almost immediately, Chocy fell asleep. Fairia sighed. "The sleeping powder I put it that nut finally kicks in."  
  
"Good job, darling." The queen smiled. "You can keep that thing." Then she ordered the other fairies. "Bring these two kids into my room, I want to decide where am I going to put in my room as decorations."  
  
~~~~~  
  
Hours passed before Chocy finally woke up. He jumped up, and then he was pulled back down. That was when he realized that one of his legs was chained to the wall by two magnetic rings. It looked around, he was in a room full of stuffed animals of birds, but the animals were awfully small.  
  
Moments later, Faira entered. "Oh, you're awake." Chocy went mad when he saw her. He stood up, and pointed to the magnetic rings madly. "Wark~!! Wark wark! (What's the big idea!)"  
  
"Sorry." Faira said. "It's just until you become totally obedient." She smiled.  
  
Chocy continued. "Wark!!?? Wark wark wark wark wark, wark wark! (Totally obedient!!?? I have owners! I will never obey you!)"  
  
"Owners? You mean the ones you wouldn't let go off back there? They won't be your owners anymore. My mother never let go of her preys." Faira said. Then Chocy realized that she understands what he was saying. "Wark wark? (You know what I'm saying?)" He asked. Faira smiled, and answered. "Yeah, I really like birds, so I study a lot until one day, I became capable of communicating with them. Therefore I understand what are you saying."  
  
That didn't make Chocy happy, and yelled in chocobo language. {Then tell me! Where the heck am I, who the heck are you, and what the heck did you do to my friends?}  
  
Faira held up both her hands. "Whoa, calm down! One at a time!" She smiled, and sat down on his shoulder. "I'm Faira, princess of the fairy kingdom. That mean lady with black hair you just met is my mom, Feiry, queen of the kingdom. Your friends are with her, but they'll be okay, she just likes to collect cute stuffs." She giggled, though Chocy certainly wasn't in a laughing mood. He yelled. {Why did you kidnap us? Let us go!}  
  
Faira yelled back. "Don't yell at me! It was their fault to start with!" She crossed her arms. "It was the human actually. This whole area used to be ours, but the humans took over, and made a huge market!" Chocy thought to himself. [That was that big market we saw back there...] Then he asked. {That was the people living in here, though. Sakura and Syaoran weren't even from around here! They just arrived!}  
  
Faira waved her finger. "Wrong, we planned a trap here to get back to the humans." She stared at him. "ANY humans. They're all evil anyway." She turned and flew around the room. "We made the little deserted town your so call owners were staying in, just to trap who ever gets here. One: to protect ourselves, two: to get back at them."  
  
Chocy swallowed. {What...what are you going to do to them once they fall into your trap?} He asked with a shaky. Faira narrowed her eyes. "We take their money, or anything that's valuable, draw on their faces, and through them back to the river." She put her finger to her mouth. "Not too bad, for what they've do to us, but what can you do, we're against violence." She waved, and looked at Chocy. "Now it's your turn to tell your story."  
  
Chocy looked at her with angry eyes. {I'm Chocy! A chocobo owned by humans! Sakura and Syaoran aren't like other humans! They're nice. They rescued me from my evil owner --- Terry! If it weren't for them, I would've been dead by now!} Tears came out of Chocy's eyes. {They loved me, and cherished me. I won't let you do anything to them! I will fight till I die!}  
  
Faira was touched by his loyalty. She shook her head. "No, no humans would do anything like that! You're just a silly bird who is fooled!" She turned and flew away. "I'm not listening to you anymore!" Chocy struggled. {No! Come back! Release me!}  
  
~~~~~  
  
Faira flew outside, and reached an area that looks like a flower field. The flower field was located at the back of the palace. She flew further from the palace until she reached a grave. The grave was made out of crystal cross, with magic surrounding it. To Faira, it was as tall as a house. She looked at the cross, and sighed. She sat next to the grave, thinking. [Chocy was definitely fooled. How can any chocobo think that humans are great?] She looked at the grave, and thought to herself. [Maria...the poor thing...] She lowered her head, and felt the breeze blowing to her face.  
  
"Princess." A fairy knight called, and Faira snapped back to reality.  
  
"That bird in your room is getting really noisy, should we kill it?" The knight asked. Faira looked at him, and said. "Yes...no! Um...I mean...bring it out here, I'll handle it..." The knight bowled, and went inside to bring out Chocy.  
  
Chocy came out with chains around his neck. The knights kneeled down before Faira. "We have brought out the specimen, your highness."  
  
"Let go of the chains." Faira said, back facing them, she brushed her hair. The knights hesitated. "But...princess..." Faira yelled. "Just do it." The knights could do nothing but follow. They released the chains, and Chocy looked curiously at Faira. He narrowed his eyes, and asked. {Aren't you afraid that I'm going to run away?} Faira sighed, and said. "You won't leave with out your owners, and you have no idea where they are. You can't do anything." She turned around, and ordered the knights. "You are all dismissed."  
  
As the knights went, Faira turned to Chocy. "I...I think I need to apologize. Maybe humans aren't all evil..." Chocy was surprised but her sudden change of attitude. He backed away a little. Faira continued. "But...not the ones I've met! They were all evil! They were all bloody monsters!" Chocy was kind of afraid of the strength in her words; he let her go on. "I had a pet once, a penguin bird. Its name was Maria; it was my favorite bird. It was cute, and it was loyal, like you and your master and mistress. But one day, a human invaded our territory, and it was killed." She looked up to the crystal cross, and smoothed it. "This is its grave..." Chocy understood how she felt, and looked sadly at the grave.  
  
"From that day on, I promised myself that I would never, ever like another human. I don't want to touch them, I don't want to hear them, I don't even want to look at another human." She shook her head wildly, and looked down. "But...my hate faints away as time passes, and I don't want it that way, so I come to this grave every time I begin to soften up. This grave reminds me of everything I hate and against." She hugged the grave, and tear rolled down her face.  
  
Chocy shook his head. {No! You shouldn't do that! You can't always live in the pass, you have to face the future, and mind what is ahead! You should leave your sadness behind!} Faira turned around to face Chocy. "You don't understand my lost!" Chocy shook his head wilder. {Yes! Yes, I do understand. You see, when I was getting beat up by Terry, I couldn't hate human more. I hate them so much; I could practically eat their flesh! But...it was the humans in the end who saved me...from that day on, I understand that humans weren't all that bad.}  
  
Faira looked at Chocy, her heart began to soften up again. Chocy lowered his head, and joked. {Which is pretty ironic because Terry is not even human to begin with.} Faira flew closer to Chocy. "You mean there're creatures worst than human?" Chocy looked at her, and nodded. {Much worst! Humans aren't really bad, it's something that takes the human form that's bad! They're called the devils. They are creatures from hell.}  
  
"So, so, the one who killed Maria is devil, too?" Faira asked, her face began to light up. Chocy looked at her, and nodded. {Could be, when did your Maria die?"}Faira was catching on. "Around half a year ago!" She said. Chocy calculated, he remembered the thing Sakura said, they've been here for almost half a year. Chocy nodded again. {Definitely a possibility!}  
  
Faira flew up higher, and held her fist in front of her face. "Why, it's those damn devils! I've always thought that it was human, but they are the real mean ones!" She looked around, and smiled. "Thanks, Chocy! Now I can stop hating humans!" Chocy gave her a "thumb up" (since he has no thumbs, he put up his wing) and asked. {So how about letting my human friends go?} Faira nodded cheerfully and agreed. "Right! Let's go and try to convince my mom."  
  
~~~~~  
  
"No way." Feiry said cruelly as she rejected Faira and Chocy's favor. Faira wined painfully. "Why not~?" Feiry turned to her, and asked. "The real question is why. I thought that you hated the humans for killing Maria, why are you trying to help them?" She flew away to the other side of her room, staring at her cute collections.  
  
Faira followed. "I told you, it was the stupid devil that killed my Maria! Humans are nice, Chocy said so!" Feiry turned around, and sighed. "Darling, you can't trust the words of a chocobo. He can be lying just to get his so call owners out of here. Second, if he is telling the truth about the devils, we have no proof that they killed Maria. You saw it I saw it. They look like human smells like human. Don't you remember the face of the human that killed your Maira?"  
  
Faira frowned. "How can I forget?" She was there, witnessing the whole tragedy. Feiry flew to her. "Darling, I know it's hard to hate someone sometimes, but you can't let that soften you up. We all hate the humans, they not only killed your Maria, but also took over our property."  
  
Chocy couldn't remain silence anymore. "Wark wark, wark." It said. Feiry tilted her head. "What the heck did he just say." Faira turned and said. "It asked you have was our property taken away." Feiry flung her hair, and flew in front of Chocy. "Little chocobo." She said. "Let me tell you. We were living around the area that big market it. We lived peacefully, with out having any contacts to the humans. But one day, the humans came and took over our land. We were forced to live in the forest around it."  
  
"Wark, wark wark" Chocy said. Faira translated. "He asked 'Aren't you living peacefully in the forest?'" Feiry jerked, and coughed. "It...it's not the condition, it's the dignity. We were there first!"  
  
Chocy asked again. "Wark, wark wark, wark wark?" Faira translated again. "He asked why didn't we fight back, or at least talk to them about us living there first."  
  
Feiry hesitated. "Wh...why? Because we can't show ourselves to the human, you silly fool!" Chocy lowered an eye brown. "Wark?" Faira turned around, and said. "He asked 'why not?'"  
  
"Huh...huh? Because...because they're big, and mean!"  
  
Chocy asked again. "Wark?" Faira translated. "He said 'says who?'"  
  
That really hit Feiry in the face. No one had really seen the humans do bad deeds. All they know is, humans are big, and they're defenseless against it. They never interacted with the humans before, so they never have any evidence that humans are bad. "Um...um...no one needs to say it! We just...know!"  
  
"Wark, wark wark wark wark, wark, wark wark!" Chocy yelled, Faira turned around, and yelled to her mom. "Mom, Chocy's right!" Feiry backed up. "What did he say?" Faira explained. "We shouldn't be afraid of them just because they are physically bigger than us! We can't hate them either. If we have never interacted with the humans before, how do we know they're bad? What if they're nice?"  
  
Feiry couldn't say anything of a second. Then she came back to her. "They killed your Maria, and that is the truth!"  
  
Sadness appeared on Faira's face. She was right, there were no proof that the man that killed Maria was a devil or not. It still could be a human that killed Maria.  
  
~~~~~  
  
They were back to Maria's grave. Chocy sighed hard, and so did Faira. "I'm sorry." She said. "I wasn't much of a help." Chocy shook his head. {It wasn't your fault. It was a long shot. I'm sorry that it could be a human that killed your Maria."} She petted him on the head. "It's not your fault."  
  
Just then, they both heard a loud noise coming from the palace. With their max speed, they went back into the palace. They saw a man holding a bazooka in front of the palace's main door. Faira couldn't believe her eyes. "It's...it's that man that killed my Maria!"  
  
"Finally, I found you all!" he showed a wicked smile. The next thing you know, he had his bazooka up on his shoulder, and started to fire. "I'm going to capture you all!" He fired; nets came shooting out of the bazooka. It pinned down some of fairies on to the wall. He took a look at some of them. "He he...looks cute, I can sell you for a lot of money."  
  
"Stop it!" Feiry yelled. "Let them go at once!" The man turned around, and looked at the puny little queen. "And you must be the queen. You're going to worth the most of them all." Feiry moved her hand in a circular motion, magic gathered, and her staff appeared. "We are no dolls for you to sell!" She took the staff, and used it to cast magic. She shot magic rings at him, but he quickly took up his bazooka again. "Big deal." He fired the net, the rings vanished as it hits the met, and it pinned Feiry to the wall, too. That man walked towards her as she fought to get out of the net. "Pitiful creatures." He said, looking at it. "You are going to help me make some good money."  
  
Faira couldn't just watch anymore. "Release her!" She yelled, and fired some magic balls at him. He felt something hitting his back, but he barely moved. He turned around, and saw Faira. "Well, well, well, look what we have here, a princess fairy, you worth even more than that old lady I just caught." Feiry's ears twitched. "Old...lady?" She said with anger.  
  
"I guess I'll capture you too!" He fired, but Chocy got Faira out of the way just in time. That man eyed at Chocy. "What the heck is this worthless chocobo doing here?" He loaded another bullet into the bazooka. "Why don't you get a load of this?" He fired. Almost immediately, Chocy was frozen. "Ha ha ha...cold, isn't it? Let me warm you up a little." He loaded another bullet, and shot Chocy with a fire blast. "WARK~!!!" Chocy was deforested in less than two seconds, he ran around, trying to put out the fire on his tail. That man just stood there, and laugh. "Ha! How funny!"  
  
Faira shot him at the back again. "Stop picking on Chocy!" He turned around, and aimed his bazooka at her. "You're right, I should save time, and capture you instead." He fired again, this time Faira dodged it. "You killed my Maria, I will never forgive you!" The man looked confused. "Who the hell is Maria?"  
  
"The poor penguin bird you kill half a year ago! You are cold blooded!" She fired again. It barely hurt him. "Great, you can go with her." He aimed, ready to fire. All of the sudden, Chocy appeared in front of his face, and jumped around him. He was still trying to put out the fire on his tail. "Get off of me, you damn bird!" Chocy found sat on it, and put it out. It sighed for relieve.  
  
"Stupid bird." The man said, but he smelled something, something burning..."Yikes!" he yelled as he noticed that he caught Chocy's fire, and his shirt was burning. "Ahhh~!!!" He screamed as he took off the shirt, and threw it away from him. That when Chocy looked around, and saw it: the tattoo, on the missioner's right shoulder. Chocy almost jumped, it ordered Faira. {Go! Go to get my owner Sakura's necklace! Quick!}  
  
Faira was a bit worried. "But.but what about you?" Chocy hurried her. {I have no time to explain! Just go!} Faira didn't know what on earth was going on, but she followed anyway. Chocy turned to the missioner. He swallowed. [I'm not sure I can beat him without Sakura or Syaoran, but I'll try my best!] He jumped towards him, using its claws to scratch on his face. The missioner screamed painfully. "Ow! Stop it! Ah!!" He swung his arms to get Chocy off; Chocy did a back-flip, and did a perfect landing. He lowered his head, getting into battle position; he's ready to attack again.  
  
At the same time, Feiry was coming out of her net. "You...S.O.B! How dare you call me an old lady?!" She yanked off the net that's on her, and gathered magic power. "You're going to pay~!!!" She summoned fairies of light; they flew around the room in light speed, bouncing from one corner to the other, the mission jumped around dodging it. "Yo! Watch it~!!"  
  
Chocy took the chance, and used his beak to attack him on the tattoo. "Oof!" He said painfully. Unfortunately, Chocy's power wasn't enough to kill him. The impact wasn't a total lost, though. It weakened the mission, and let Feiry realized his weakness. "So, you don't like your little mark on your shoulder being hit, eh? Concentrate all ammos on that mark!" All the light fairies merged into one, and aimed at the tattoo, but the mission was able to jump just in time to avoid being hit. The light fairies went pass him, and kept on going.  
  
The missioner landed, knowing that they have found their weakness. "Well, if I'm going down, you're all going down with me!" He loaded his bazooka to max, and began firing in all direction. Chocy were busy dodging the shots, he doesn't have chance to get close him. Feiry got even madder. "You S.O.B.! You're ruining my palace!!" Faira just happened to come into the scene. "Hey, Chocy, you mean this...wah!!" She backed up, almost getting hit by the fire.  
  
Feiry's anger is now up to max. "EEEEEERRRRRRRR!!" She threw away her staff. "Screw the dumb magic!" She charged towards him full speed. "Eat this!!!" The mission was not expecting that, he got hit in the face.  
  
Hard.  
  
So hard, that he lot his balance, and dropped. Chocy just stared at it, both mouth and sweat dropped. Faira was staring, too. She couldn't believe how strong her mother was. "Wow, mom, that's really something." She said. Chocy snapped out of the matter, and remembered that the missioner is not dead yet. "WARK!!" He jumped on him, his claws landed on his tattoo, and his body vanished. All but his soul was left, and it was sucked into the necklace that Faira was holding. Faira was over excited by the whole battle. "That was awesome! You two were really cool!!"  
  
~~~~~  
  
"So I guess that it was the missioner that killed Maria after all." Feiry said. Faira, Chocy and her were around Maria's grave. Feiry sighed, and said. "Chocy, you are right. We shouldn't be too judgmental. We really should be more open."  
  
Faira showed a big smile, and so did Chocy. "Does it mean that you're going to release Chocy's owners?" Faira said cheerfully. Feiry nodded. "It's the least I can do for the bird who saved our kingdom." Faira and Chocy jumped up and down together. Feiry sighed again, and looked at the sky. "I know that we all live on the same world. There're all kinds of life forms in this world. I know that we can all live together in peace."  
  
Faira stopped jumping, and looked at her. "You mean..." Feiry nodded again. "It's time we show ourselves to the humans." Faira flew near her. "Really? You think this is a good idea?" Feiry smiled, and looked at the sky again. "Only time can tell. It might not be, but we wouldn't back down unless we know for sure." Faira was over whelmed. "Oh, I'm so proud of you, mommy!" They hugged, and Chocy watched silently.  
  
Feiry looked at Chocy. "And all this is because of you, Chocy. I must give you something in return. You shall stay here, and we should treat you like king!"  
  
Chocy was thinking. [King, huh? Maybe just for a couple of days...] Chocy answered in "warks", and Faira said. "He said, just for a couple of days, and he also want to ask a favor." Feiry would not hesitate to help him. "Come on, Chocy, you name it, and you shall have it!"  
  
Chocy thought for a moment. Then something struck him. "Wark! Wark wark, wark wark!" Feiry asked Faira. "What did he say?" Faira smiled. "Well..."  
  
~~~~~  
  
The sun shined bright. Sakura moved around in her bed, and slowly opened her eyes. She got up, and yawned. "Oh...I haven't have a nice sleep in a long time. That was nice." She did a big stretch, and rubbed her eyes. The she looked at the present she was about to give Syaoran. "Just a little more to go." She picked it up, and smiled to herself.  
  
Syaoran walked sleepily down the hallway. "(Yawn) Good morning." Sakura smiled as she put her gloves on. "Go morning~" Syaoran looked at her. "You're up early." He said. Sakura smiled, and said. "Just to finish off something." Then she pushed Syaoran out. "Now go change, and wash yourself."  
  
In around an hour, they were all prepared to leave this mysterious town. When they went out to get Chocy, they realized that Chocy had gotten...wider. "Um...Chocy? Is that you?" Syaoran said, as he rubbed Chocy's stomach. [Anyone would've gotten fatter,] Chocy thought. [If they were served as for three days.] Sakura looked at his neck. "Who gave you this cute little bandana?" She said, and she looked at his red bandana. Chocy remembered the time when Faira gave it to him. That bandana used to be Maria's. Chocy sighed; Sakura just looks at him with confusion.  
  
Moments later, they were on their way out of the town. Then before you know it, it was snowing! "Wow!" Sakura exclaimed. "It's snowing~! Cool~!" Syaoran was surprised, too. "I guess it does snow here in Ometin...what do you know"  
  
Chocy looked at a near by tree, he saw Feiry and Faira sitting on there, waving. They had summoned the ice fairy to make the snow. Chocy waved back, and smiled.  
  
Sakura reached into her bag. "If it's only...oh my goodness!" She said. Syaoran turned around. "What's the matter?" Sakura took out her digital watch, and smiled. "It's Christmas!" Syaoran looked carefully, and agreed. "You're right. But I thought just yesterday, it read December 22." Sakura looked at it again. "I must've seen it wrong or something." Then something hit her. "Oh, yeah!" She reached into her bag again, and took out a small present wrapped in rough fabric. "Merry Christmas!" She smiled brightly. Syaoran took the present shyly; he opened it to find out that it was a lucky charm. Just like the ones from the temple Miss Kaho works in, except that instead of a moon, this one has a little wolf on it, well, she tried to make it look like a little wolf anyway. A smile of happiness showed on Syaoran's face. "Thank you." He said.  
  
Sakura smiled. "I made it myself!" She leaned towards him. "I want you to be save, always."  
  
Syaoran smiled, and put the charm in the pouch of his utility belt. They left the town in a romantic snowy weather.  
  
To be continued...  
  
~~~~~  
  
Author's notes:  
  
Well, as you may have noticed, I planned to put this on before Christmas.  
  
Didn't happen.  
  
Oh, well...  
  
Piggy Ho Ho January 12, 2001 


	18. Evil Sakura, Good Sakura, & the Mirror

I'm running out of themes.here's Chapter 18.  
  
CCS: LEGEND OF OMETIN  
  
Chapter 18  
  
~~~~~  
  
It was a nice and peaceful day, in a nice and peaceful village, yet something usual is disturbing the peace.  
  
"Our next item is the mysterious mirror from more than three hundred years ago." A mid age man said as he stood on top of the stand, in a big mansion. People were gathered around, having an auction. A perfect place for rich ladies and gentlemen to get some rare items, also a perfect target for thieves.  
  
"He he he...looks like they have some very rare and worthy items here today...I mustn't rush, I'll wait for the perfect chance for me to take over this whole place." A man in a scarf said. He listened to the announcer.  
  
"This mirror is said to be a cursed item. Long ago, a beautiful lady owned this mirror. She was so beautiful, that all she does is stare at this mirror all day. She was alone, yet satisfied. Until one day, she passed away, regretting that she had wasted her whole life staring at herself instead of getting a decent boyfriend. Therefore this mirror that she once held, is filled with jealousy of other couples that are in love. Whoever gets their hands on it, will never succeed in his or her relationship."  
  
All the audiences gasped. "Oh, how terrible." A worker took out the mirror. It was a small mirror, about the size of a coaster. Flat and has a string attached, so you can were it as a necklace. It was wrapped nicely with special paper that seals its power. The worker placed it carefully on the table, and the others began bidding.  
  
"Fifty." One called.  
  
"One hundred!" Said the other.  
  
The prices were getting higher and higher, the scarf man was about to make a move when all of a sudden, someone threw a smoke bomb into the middle of the crowd. The smoke soon filled the whole mansion, and no one can see a thing. "What the heck?" The scarf man yelled. "Hey, what on earth is going on?"  
  
Minutes later, after a whole lot of coughing, the smoke finally cleared. All the people looked around to see what happened. "Ahh! My wallet is stolen!" A woman yelled. The others checked theirs, and realized that theirs were missing, too. "Eek! So is mine!"  
  
"Ah!!" The announcer screamed. "All the bidding items have been stolen!!" The whole mansion was completely robbed; nothing valuable is left. The scarf man stood there, having a hard time believing what just happened. "How...how dare him?"  
  
"HOW DARE SOMEONE STEALS SOMETHING BEFORE I GOT THE CHANCE TO??!!" He yelled, pulling off his scarf. It was Jon who was under the scarf. Everyone looked at him. He paused, feeling glares on him He turned around, knowing that he said it too loudly. "Um...ah..." He said with a smile, a big sweat drop appeared on his face. "Here's some more smoke for you!" He threw a smoke boom; soon the mansion was filled with coughing noises again.  
  
~~~~~  
  
A fat man was running away from the scene of the crime in high speed, he had a big bag of stuffs with him. "He he...what an easy task! This time I earn big!!" He was running in some short of mountain trails filled with trees and grass.  
  
"Yo! Wait!" A voice yelled. The fat man turned around to look; he couldn't believe someone actually caught up to him. "What the? Who's there?" Jon ran up next to him, and yelled again. "So you were the one who stole from the mansion!" Jon ran with him side by side.  
  
"You can't catch me! I can take you down in less than a second!" The fat man kept running. Jon replied. "I'm not here to get you! We're in the same business!" The fat man stopped. "Really?" He collapsed, and sat down on ground. "Gees, why didn't you say so? I'm exhausted!"  
  
They sat down together, and they talked. "You see, I was there first, but you took everything away, and left nothing for me." Jon tried to reason with him. "The least you can do is give me some of the goods you stole!" He pointed to the bag. The fat man looked at him. "Is that all you want to say?" Jon nodded; the man stood up, took the bag and started walking away. "Bye." He said briefly. Jon ran up. "Wait wait wait wait wait!"  
  
"Oh come on, you really don't expect me to give you a share of my stolen goods now, do you?" The fat man said. Jon stood up dramatically, and brushed the dust of the fat man's shoulder. "Did I tell you how good you were at stealing those goods? I mean, wow!" He said.  
  
"Well." The man turned away with a smile on his face. "I am pretty good." Jon knew he was pleased with the comments, so he decided to continue. "You...you should be a legend, your way of stealing was like a...like a...magic show!" Jon said, exaggerating every word he said. Anyone could tell that he was lying, but to the man he was speaking to, it was like music to his ears. He smiled proudly, "Well, I'm not surprised, you're looking at the best thieve of the mission..." He paused, stopping himself from saying more. Jon looked closer, "Of what?"  
  
The fat man hesitated, then said, "Of the...mansion. Yes, of course." He backed up. Jon tilted his head, not sure that was what he said. The man thought to himself. [That was closed, for a minute there I almost revealed the fact that I'm a missioner from hell...] Jon tapped him. "Ah...sir?"  
  
The man snapped out of his thoughts. "Er...I...have to go." He was trying to get away; he knew that Jon was getting suspicious at him. Jon wouldn't let him leave. "Wait, I'm not done!" Jon pulled him back. The man was getting annoyed; he reached into the bag, took whatever that he grabbed first, and threw it to him. "Here! Just leave me alone!" Jon caught the item he threw, before he had time to react, the man ran away already. "What's his problem?" Jon stood there, confused, and looked at what he threw at him.  
  
It was the mirror back there. Jon sighed, and shoved it into his pocket. [Well, it's better than nothing.]  
  
~~~~~  
  
In a busied market place, shops were everywhere. The market place looks like a market from India back in the old days. Here, Jon was trying to find the perfect target. "Hm..." he hummed, as he scanned the pedestrians for a rich-looking person. As he found his target, he smiled delightedly, and ran from tent shops to tent shops moving closer and closer to a short lady with at least three diamond rights on each of her finger. Just when he was only inches away from the target, someone tapped on his shoulder. He was very surprised by that. He jumped, and looked around to see who was tapping.  
  
It was Sakura, with a paper bag full of groceries. "Jon!" She said. "I haven't seen you for a while!" she said. Jon was in a very awkward position, he turned around, seeing that his pray was far away by now, he sighed and paid his attention back to Sakura. "Oh, hi, Sakura. What's up with the groceries?"  
  
Sakura looked at her bag. "Oh, this? It's for my boss."  
  
Jon scratched his head. "Boss?"  
  
Sakura blushed lightly. "Well...it went like this. Syaoran and I ran out of money, so we had to work at this restaurant to earn some traveling fees." She giggled. "Syaoran looks the cutest when he wears an apron."  
  
Jon wouldn't dare to imagine that. A vision of a man wearing something that looks like a girl is another man's nightmare. He just laughed along.  
  
Sakura stopped giggling. "What are you doing here?" She asked. Jon jumped at the question. A nervous sweat drop rolled down on his head. "Um...I...ah..." Sakura leaned closer to him. "You were stealing again?" Her face darkened, and she now had her free hand on her waist. She looked like a mother who saw a failing grade on her child's test paper. Jon didn't dare to continue the conversation. He took the mirror that her got earlier, and gave it to Sakura. "Oh! Right! I got you a gift! Look!"  
  
Sakura didn't quite buy that. Jon just shoved her the mirror and ran off. "Okay, bye!" Sakura stared at the weird gift. It was wrapped in paper; she couldn't tell what it is. It looked more like a piece of cracker wrapped in wax paper.  
  
Just when she was about to open the gift, he boss popped his head out of the store and rushed her. "Hey, Sakura, I can use those groceries!" He said. Sakura turned her mind back to work. "Oh, sorry!" She put the mirror into her pocket, and ignored it for the day.  
  
~~~~~  
  
The next time she remembered about it, was when the restaurant closed.  
  
"Thank you for coming." She said good-bye to the last customer, and began picking up the dishes on the table. Syaoran was wiping the table beside her. He stretched, and yawned. "Tough day." He said tiredly. Sakura smiled, and made it up for him. "Busy day. It's a good thing." Syaoran kept wiping the table. "Whatever."  
  
The boss came in from the kitchen, and said. "Thanks you two. I'll take it from here, you can go to the back and rest in your room." Sakura and Syaoran thanked him, and went to the back.  
  
Sakura jumped on the bed, and lied there lifelessly. "Oh, I'm so tired...I haven't work this hard since...I don't know when..." She rolled over and faced the ceiling. Syaoran sat on the bed beside her. "Go change before you get on the bed." Sakura shook her head lightly. "I don't want to move..." Syaoran looked at her. "You can't lay here all night." She stretched out her hands, "Lift me up." She said.  
  
Syaoran sighed. "You lazy thing." He pulled her. She giggled, and went to the bathroom to get change.  
  
After she changed into her pajamas, her mirror dropped. She picked it up, wondering what was under the wrapping, and opened it out of curiosity. It was not until then that she realized that it was a mirror. She looked directly into the mirror, and into the eyes of her own reflection. All of the sudden, her reflection smiled, Sakura was shocked, and dropped the mirror. The mirror didn't land; instead, it floated in the air with strange alien glow surrounding it.  
  
Sakura backed away, she wanted to run, but something paralyzed her. "Syaoran..." She said quietly, she couldn't scream. "Help...me..." The mirror floated towards Sakura, and for a second, all she could see was green light.  
  
[Syaoran!!!]  
  
Syaoran felt a chill, he thought he heard someone called his name, but he wasn't sure. He stood up, and started to walk towards the bathroom. "Sakura...?" He knew there were something strange going on, but what?  
  
He approached the door quietly, and was about to open the door when the door was suddenly opened from the other side. Syaoran gasped, and Sakura came out. She looked...different.  
  
She didn't have the glow in her eyes, and she wasn't smiling. Syaoran swallowed, he felt as if a stranger was standing in front of him. "Sakura, are you okay?" Sakura gave him a soft smile. "Yes, why?" Somehow, that smile was different from the usual ones. Syaoran walked closer. "Are you sure?" Sakura nodded. [So this is the one that this girl treasures.] Sakura thought to herself. Then she gave him a brighter smile. "Do I look different?"  
  
"Um..." Syaoran wasn't sure what, but something was definitely different, and that's when he realized that she was wearing a mirror around her neck. "Oh, so that's what was different." He picked it up, and examined it.  
  
~~~~~  
  
It was dark, and Sakura woke up in the darkness. "Ah...where am I?" She stood up, still feeling a little dizzy. The last thing she remembered was the mirror attacking her, and she passed out. "How do I get here?"  
  
"It looks nice on you."  
  
Sakura heard Syaoran's voice. "Syaoran?" She looked around, all she could see was darkness, but she realized that there were really light, some very dim ones, coming from a round shaped window. She ran to toward the window, and looked out side. She saw Syaoran looking directly at her, but he seems...awfully big...  
  
"Syaoran!" She yelled, and started banging on the window, but Syaoran couldn't hear her. "Where'd you get it?" Syaoran said, looking up.  
  
[Whom is he talking to?] Sakura thought. Then she was shocked when she heard he own voice answering his question. "No where."  
  
Sakura's heart skipped a beat; she slowly looked up, and saw her own face, smiling at Syaoran. [Is that...me?] She watched "herself" in fear. [That's not me! Who is it?] And that's when Sakura realized it: she was trapped inside the mirror, and someone was using her body!  
  
The Sakura outside stepped closer to Syaoran. "Don't you like it?" she said, putting her arms around his neck. Syaoran was surprised at her forwardness. He blinked, and replied nervously. "Ah...o-of course I like it." Sakura smiled, and hugged him tight. "I'm glad." Syaoran just stood there; he was too surprised to hug back. "Huh?" He blushed.  
  
Inside the mirror, Sakura banged hard. "No! Syaoran! That's not me! Don't get fooled! Please!!!"  
  
"Syaoran!!!"  
  
~~~~~  
  
Deep in the night, when Syaoran fell deep asleep on a bed next to "Sakura's", "Sakura" got up, and walked outside. She closed the door behind her quietly, leaving a little gap, and smiled at Syaoran who rolled over and sighed in deep sleep.  
  
When "Sakura" walked out to the back yard, she took her mirror, and looked inside. There, the real Sakura lied. She ran up to the mirror, and yelled. "Give me back my body!"  
  
The fake Sakura smiled, and shook her head lightly. "No, not until I've completed my task." Sakura felt a chill. "Your task?" She asked. She was afraid to find out.  
  
The fake Sakura paused, and revealed it slowly. "To kill the person you admire." Sakura's heart almost stopped, she banged on the mirror. "Don't you dare touch Syaoran!" The fake Sakura smiled, and put her finger to her lip. "Syaoran...is that his name? What a cute name. 'Little wolf', it suits him." She brushed her hair. "I like it, it would look good on his grave."  
  
"NOOOOOO!!" Sakura kept hitting the mirror. Tears began to appear in her eyes. The fake Sakura tilted her head, "Too bad you can't do anything about it, but to witness the death of your own love." She laughed evilly. "Ha ha ha...I love it when two lovers start to kill each other." She put down her mirror, and started to walk back into the bedroom. Sakura watched fearfully as the fake Sakura approached to the side of Syaoran's bed.  
  
Syaoran slept peacefully under the moonlight. The fake Sakura looked at him, and blushed. She had to admit, he was cute. To kill him right away would be a waste; she had decided to play with the little wolf for a short while before killing him. She bended down, and kissed him on the cheek. "Sweet dreams, my cute little wolf." After that, she went to bed herself.  
  
Sakura sighed for relieve, at least the fake her wasn't going to make any move for the night. Still, she was not too keen with the kiss.  
  
~~~~~  
  
After working for three days straight in the restaurant, Sakura and Syaoran finally got to have a little break. The fake Sakura use sight seeing as an excuse, and took Syaoran around town.  
  
"Let's go there!" Fake Sakura pointed towards the highest building in town. It was a spiral shape tower made out of silver-like material. "The view must be incredible up there!" She grabbed his hand, and pulled him along. "Hey...wait." Syaoran complained. The Sakura in the mirror looked nervously outside, the fake Sakura ran rapidly, causing the mirror to bounce up and down. The real Sakura lost her balance, and fell hard. "Ow!" She got up, groaning. "Stop running already!"  
  
At the same time, Jon was also inside the tower, sneaking around in souvenir shops. "Aha! A lot of visitors would come to visit this tower, this is the perfect place to steal!" He stayed low, making sure no one was looking; he backed away to one of the moneybox of a souvenir shopkeeper. As he did so, he bumped into a person; he turned around to see that it was the fat guy from the auction. "You!" He said, the guy turned around and said the same.  
  
People were coming by, so the dived into the stuffed animals. They wait until the people were gone, and popped their heads up again, bodies still buried under stuffed animals. "What are you doing here?" Jon asked with a stuffed penguin bird on his head. "The same thing you are doing here!" The fat guy answered with a stuffed octopus on his head.  
  
"Sh! Someone's coming!" Jon said, both of them sunk back into the stuffed animals. Sakura and Syaoran came by, and they were looking at souvenirs. Syaoran walked towards the stuffed animal piles, and started looking. The two thieves were afraid that he would find them; they didn't move an inch. Syaoran looked around, holding up a stuffed chocobo doll. "If we weren't tight for cash, I'd buy this for Chocy." Sakura smiled and nodded along, not sure who Chocy was. She looked around, and saw no one. She knew that there was her chance to kill Syaoran.  
  
She took one of the models of the tower, it was fairly heavy, and she could use it as a weapon. The real Sakura watched in fear. "No! Drop that! Nooooo!!" The fake Sakura approached Syaoran with the model in her hand. She lifted it up high, and was about to hit him when suddenly, Syaoran turned and walked away. The fake Sakura missed him by an inch, and smashed the model into the stuffed animals. It was almost soundless; therefore Syaoran didn't notice a thing.  
  
Syaoran looked around, and saw Sakura with the model in her arms; he smiled. "You're not planning to get that, are you?" Sakura tilted her head, and grinned. "Um...no." She put it some where on the shelf in front of her. [Did he...know?] She thought. He patted her on the shoulder, which scared her. He smiled, and said gently. "Come on, let's go."  
  
The fake Sakura forced a smile, and nodded. They were about to go away, when one of the stuffed octopuses rolled off, and the face of the fat thieve appeared. "Huh?" They both said.  
  
The thief was hit on the head by Sakura's model, a bump appeared. Syaoran gasped when he saw what was on the bump: a missioners tattoo! The fake Sakura hit the missioner right tattoo by accident when she was going for Syaoran! Seconds later, his body vanished, and his soul was sucked into Sakura's necklace. The fake Sakura blinked, not sure what had really happened. Syaoran looked at Sakura. "Did you do that?" Sakura nodded. "I think so."  
  
Though still stunned, Syaoran decided to ignore the matter, and move on. Jon stood out of the pile of stuffed animals, with the penguin bird toy still on his head, he said. "Wow...Sakura's good...she could tell the face of a missioner like that!" Then it occurred to him that Sakura hadn't be acting quite normal, for a moment there, he thought she was going to hit Syaoran...  
  
~~~~~  
  
As they walked higher and higher, they saw a construction worker blocking half of the walkway. "Huh? What happened?" Syaoran asked, a constructor explained. "One of the windows was broken, so we had to block this section to fix it." Syaoran looked at the direction he pointed to, he was right, one of the many big windows broken and the glass pieces scattered everywhere. He turned around, and told Sakura. "Come on, we'll go around it." He walked ahead. Sakura paused, and looked at one of the scattered pieces of the window that was relatively sharp, she knelt down and took it into her pocket.  
  
[What...?] Jon was following them the whole time. [What did Sakura just do? Why on earth did she take a broken glass piece?] He didn't get it, then the thought of her almost hitting Syaoran with the model flashed in his mind, he shook his head. "Couldn't happen, we're talking about Sakura here."  
  
They walk higher up to the tower, the environment changed, what was originally an inside hallway with big windows was now an outside balcony with fences at the side that's up to Sakura's stomach. Syaoran looked at the view. "Wow!" He walked to the fence, leaning on it. "What a beautiful view!" Sakura forced a smile. "Sure is." Syaoran looked at her, and smiled tenderly. He turned his attention backed to the view. Sakura walked closer, and took the broken glass out of her pocket; she moves toward him slowly...  
  
Jon almost jumped up. "Sa...Sakura?" He was going to stop her when a puff of yellow stuff jumped in front of him. "Wark~!" it went. And jumped toward Syaoran with a big smile. Syaoran almost got knocked down but him. "Hey! Chocy!" He said gladly. "How'd you find us? I thought you were in the restaurant!" He petted him. Sakura backed up nervously, trying to hide the weapon from the unexpected company. Chocy turned around, and grinned at Sakura. "Wark!" He said. Sakura was quite scared by the movement. Chocy knew something was going on. "Wark?" It said quietly.  
  
Syaoran jumped on Chocy. "Let's ride him for the rest of the way back." He said. Sakura hesitated. "Um...I..." Syaoran pulled her hand. "Come on!" She jumped on unwillingly, and wrapped her arms around him; he started to order Chocy to go down the tower. The Sakura inside the mirror sighed, she knew Syaoran would be safe for now.  
  
Jon looked at them go, and lowered an eyebrow. "Sakura...? Why did she do that? It's not like her at all..." Then he remembered the mirror she was wearing. It was the one he gave her, the one he saw in the auction. He remembered with the adjudicator said. 'Whoever gets their hands on it, will never succeed in his or her relationship...'  
  
"Oh no!" Jon slapped his own head. "This must have something to do with that mirror! It'll rip those two apart!"  
  
~~~~~  
  
Chocy was eating his meal happily in his barn; humming as he ate, he heard a noise behind him. He slowly turned around, and Jon rose slowly from the hays. "Sh..." He hinted. Chocy turned his body around, and tilted his head. Jon walked closer to him. "I got a little favor to ask you." He sat down beside him. "Have you noticed that Sakura has been acting strangely today?"  
  
Chocy nodded to his agreement. {It's like she's afraid of me.} Chocy thought. Jon held up his index finger. "Yeah, I think she's under some sort of spell!" Chocy gasped, Jon continued. "Anyway, I'll have to go and find out a way to cure her, whatever it is, it's not good! Sakura and Syaoran may never be together if this goes on!" Chocy's mouth dropped. "Wark~!" He yelled. Jon shushed him again. "That's why I need your help!"  
  
Chocy nodded. {I'll do it!} He thought. Jon smiled. "Great, now all you have to do is to keep an eye on her, making sure that she doesn't do anything to Syaoran. And don't tell Syaoran...well...not that you can talk, but don't tell him!" Chocy nodded again. Jon started to head for the door. "I'll be back as soon as I find a cure, Syaoran's life is in your hand!" He ran out, and so did Chocy, to find Sakura.  
  
~~~~~  
  
"I'm going to make you a big dinner!" Sakura said with a big smile on her face. Syaoran stood next to the table with a sweat drop on his head. "Huh? Why so sudden?" Sakura pushed him down on a chair; leaning on his shoulder, he was forced to sit. "Just sit and relax, I'll have the meal ready in a second." She went into the kitchen, leaving Syaoran kind of confused.  
  
"Let's see..." Sakura searched the top cupboard in the kitchen; she couldn't see what was up there, so she felt around to search. "Oh...got it..." She took a bottle of powder off the cupboard; it labeled "rat poison". She smiled evilly, and skipped towards the stove. Inside the mirror, Sakura was stunned. "No! No, you wicked thing! You're going to poison Syaoran! How dare you! Let me go!" She banged, but no one could hear her, she felt hopeless.  
  
"No...no..." The real Sakura leaned against the mirror and slowly slid down. "What should I do? What should I do?" She put her hands to her head; tears came out of her eyes. "I can't do anything...am I just going to watch "myself" killing Syaoran? Syaoran...please be okay..."  
  
The noodle she was making was almost ready; she stirred it delicately with a spatula. She put the spatula aside, and took the rat poison next to it. Again, she smiled evilly, and started to twist the lid open when suddenly, Chocy popped out of the window in front of the stove. That scared Sakura, and it almost made her fall. "W-What are you doing here?" She said, waving her hand, trying to make him go away. But Chocy just stood there with his head through the window. Sakura hid the bottle behind her, and then she realized, "Wait, chocobos can't read." She brought the poison to her front, and started to move towards the stove. "Nice, chocobo...I'm just trying to cook noodles here..."  
  
When she almost got to the pan of noodles, Syaoran appeared behind her. "What are you doing?" he said, that really took Sakura by surprised. "Ah!" She yelled, and then she turned around, backing up a few steps while hiding the poison behind her, Syaoran looked at the noodles. "Oh, don't over do them!" He walked over to the stove, and turned it off. Sakura used this chance to slip the poison into a draw. Syaoran stirred the noodles, and pored them into three bowls. He wiped his hands with a towel, and took the bowls. "Okay, let's eat!" He looked at Chocy, who was glaring through the window; he smiled. "Do you want to eat too, Chocy?" Chocy nodded, and Syaoran laughed, he turned to Sakura. "Come on."  
  
"Ah...um...okay." Sakura could only accept his offer, she didn't want to look suspicious, or look even more suspicious considering she already looked suspicious enough. The Sakura inside the mirror wiped off the sweat with her sleeves. "Phew...another close one...who can help me safe Syaoran?"  
  
~~~~~  
  
Throughout the whole night, Chocy was very close to them, Sakura didn't have a chance to even plan her murder. He even followed them to the bedroom when they were going to rest. [I've got to ditch the chocobo somehow...] Sakura thought. While inside the mirror, the real Sakura was glad that Chocy was there to guard Syaoran.  
  
Syaoran on the other hand, found that was quite annoying. He turned around, and smiled to Chocy. "Chocy, are you okay? Why are you following us?"  
  
Chocy wanted to tell him, but Jon told him not to tell, so Chocy looked around, thinking of the perfect answer. Syaoran filled in for him. "You're lonely?" Chocy thought that it was a good excuse, so he nodded wildly; but Syaoran had a follow up. "Why are you lonely? You've never acted this way before." Chocy was getting nervous; he didn't know what to do.  
  
Syaoran jumped to conclusion. "Well, you'll have to leave us alone, we're going to rest." Chocy shook his head wildly; he promised Jon that he'd watch after Syaoran. Syaoran sighed, and turned to Sakura. "I have no idea what to do with him, help me."  
  
[I want him to leave, too...] Sakura thought. Suddenly, she thought of an idea. "Why don't you go take a bath first? I'll take care of him." Syaoran smiled, nodded, and headed towards the bathroom. Sakura turned around, and faced Chocy. "He'll be in the bath for a while, why don't I take you back to your barn?" Though he didn't quite trusted the fake Sakura, Chocy thought that it would be safe now that Syaoran's in the bathroom, so he agreed.  
  
After Sakura put Chocy back, and closed the barn door, she turned around, and smiled wickedly.  
  
~~~~~  
  
The bathroom in the restaurant was like a public bath that has a girl side and a boy side. The tub was as big as a pool and there were many sprinklers at the sides. Syaoran walked in with a towel around his waist. He looked around; there weren't anyone but him. He looked at the big tub full of hot water, and smiled to himself. "Great, I'm going to enjoy a nice hot bath by myself."  
  
He slowly soaked into the warm water, he signed, and relaxed. He closed his eyes, and enjoyed this peaceful moments.  
  
The peace didn't last long. Minutes later, he heard a sound over at the changing room. "Huh?" He looked around, and then he heard footsteps, getting closer and closer. "Who would come to bath this late?"  
  
His eyes widened and his face turned bright red as he saw who came in. It was Sakura, with nothing but a towel around her body, and the mirror around her neck. "S-S-S-S-Sakura!!" He yelled. "W-W-W-What are you doing here?? This is the boy's side of the bath!" He paused. "Is it?"  
  
"I know." Sakura said peacefully. "I thought it might be fun to join you." She walked closer to him. Syaoran backed up clumsily. "J-J-J-J-J-Join me?"  
  
Sakura nodded. She stepped into the gigantic tub. Inside the mirror, the real Sakura was screaming. "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!! How can you do this with my body? Give me back my body!! No!! Oh for god's sake please don't drop the towel!!" She almost cried, it was HER body that Syaoran's looking at, her face turned bright red. "Oh...I can't believe this is happening to me...he's going to see everything..."  
  
"P-P-P-P-P-Please stay where you are!" Syaoran kept backing up. "I'll be out of here as soon as possible!" He said. Sakura moved closer. "Why? Do you...hate me?" She swam towards him, Syaoran jerked, didn't know what to do at the moment. "No!" He said. "I...I..." She leaned on his shoulder. "You don't find me attractive?" She said, their bodies awfully close. Syaoran replied with his instinct. "No! Not at all! But..."  
  
Sakura smiled, "That's great." She hugged him. Syaoran felt like he was going to faint. He didn't know what to do, and don't know how long he can control himself before he...  
  
"OOOOOOHHHHH MMMMYYYYYY GGGGOOOOOOOOOOODDDDDD!! I can't believe I'm actually saying this to him!!" the real Sakura shook her head wildly in the mirror. Her face was redder than tomato. "Oh~ He is so going to get the wrong idea!!"  
  
The fake Sakura took out the broken glass piece she had before, she knew Syaoran wouldn't notice it since it was underwater. She was about to make her move when Syaoran suddenly stood up, and ran out shouting "I'VE GOT TO GO!" Leaving her in the tub alone, didn't know what really happened. The Sakura in the mirror was still shaking her head. "Oh no...how can I show my face in front of him, ever again...?"  
  
~~~~~  
  
"In control?" Jon asked the old man who held the auction. He was drinking tea in his big mansion. He nodded slowly, and went on. "I've never seen it, but I heard that whoever presumes the mirror and breaks the seal, his or her body will be taken over by the ghost that lays inside the mirror, and kill his or her love. The ghost was so jealous of lovers, that it simply is obsess with tragic love."  
  
"Hold on!" Jon held out his hand, "What seal?"  
  
"It is just the piece of paper that it was wrapped in."  
  
"So if we can seal it again, it'll go away?"  
  
"I'm sorry, it just doesn't work that way; the ghost cannot be sealed again unless it has finished its duty to kill the love of the seal breaker."  
  
"What? Then what should one do to save the lovers' lives?"  
  
"The only way is to break the mirror, the ghost and the mirror is spiritually connected. If the mirror breaks, the ghost will vanish."  
  
[Break that mirror; that sounds easy enough.] Jon thought, he stood up, and bowled. "Thank you so much!" He ran out to the door, on his way he bumped into a mid-age man. "I'm sorry." He said, and then looked at Jon's face. "Have we met? You seem familiar." The mid age man mentioned. Jon turned to see that he was the adjudicator from the auction! Jon shook his head wildly. "No! No!" Jon might be a good thieve, but certainly not a good liar. He dashed out of the building with a "Bye" and disappeared.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Syaoran rushed into his room after he changed in the changing room. His heart was still beating three hundred times per minute. [What on earth was that?] Syaoran thought to himself. [Why did she do that, to scare me? Or was she trying to get me to...] He put his hands to his head, confused. Suddenly, someone tapped him on the shoulder. "WAH!" He jumped, and turned around to find Sakura with her street clothes on, standing beside the bed. She put her hands to her knees, leaning toward him. "Did I scare you?"  
  
Syaoran put his hand to his chest, feeling his own heartbeat, now even faster. "Just a little."  
  
"I don't mean now, I mean back there."  
  
"Oh, um, well...yeah..." Syaoran said with his head down, kind of embarrassed. Sakura smiled. "He he...sorry." She took him by the hands. "Hey, want to go out for a walk?" Syaoran turned around. "Now? Did you know what time it is?" Sakura straightened her body. "Oh, come on, it'll be fun. We never went all the way up to the tower."  
  
Syaoran looked at her. "But it's closed." Sakura smiled. "We don't necessarily have to go up to the tower to see good views. Any place high would be fine."  
  
Though not certain what was she up to, Syaoran agreed anyway. She took him up to the highest hill in the village. They walked all the way up to a cliff with a lot of trees around it. Sakura insisted Syaoran on climbing up the tree at the cliff edge to get a better view. They climbed, and looked out at the village. "Wow..." Syaoran exclaimed. "This is nice." He looked around with one hand holding on to a branch above him, and the other hand holding on to Sakura's waist. Sakura smiled. "Isn't this great? Oh..." She snuggled close to Syaoran. Syaoran blushed, and paid his attention back to the view.  
  
Inside the mirror, Sakura was yelling with her loudest voice. "Syaoran! Don't get that close to her! She'll kill you! Syaoran!!"  
  
Like a miracle, Syaoran heard Sakura, but he wasn't sure what that was. "Um...did you say something Sakura?" He asked the fake one, the fake Sakura looked at him, and shook her head with a smile. Syaoran assumed that it was his own imagination, so he ignored it.  
  
The real Sakura knew he heard her. She tried harder. "Syaoran! Syaoran! I'm in here!!"  
  
Syaoran thought he heard it again. "Um...are you sure you didn't say anything?" He looked at the fake Sakura; she knew he was getting suspicious, so she decided to finish it off quickly. "No, do you have something to tell me?" She leaned closer to him, making Syaoran almost lost his balance. "Whoa, careful!" Syaoran said, grabbing on to the branch. "One slip and we're goners." He looked down at the cliff.  
  
Sakura smiled wickedly. "Are you sure? Why don't we...TRY?" She said the last word loudly, and pushed both of them down at the same time. "WHOAAA!!" Syaoran screamed, he wasn't prepared for that, his hand slipped, and they fell together.  
  
They headed straight down; Sakura wrapped her arms around him, making sure that he doesn't try anything funny. "Are you crazy?" Syaoran shouted as they fell in the air. "You'll kill us both!" Sakura looked at him, "I don't care, this isn't my body anyway!"  
  
[What is she talking about?] Syaoran thought. Then he realized that it didn't matter, he had to save both of them no matter what. It's too late for him to use a charm, so he buried Sakura into his chest, hoping that he can break the fall for her. That took the fake Sakura by surprise. [Is he...protecting me? Why would he do that when I tried to kill him? Is it because...]  
  
The real Sakura screamed inside the mirror. "Syaoran! No!! Please, will someone help him?!?" Her key glowed; the light emerged from the mirror. The windy card in the fake Sakura's pocket responded to the glow, and formed a wind cushion for them. But the force was too much for it too much for it to handle. It broke the fall a little, however they fell through the cushion, and into a rapid stream.  
  
[Is it because...he loves her?]  
  
[I've never...felt this way before.]  
  
[Is this the feeling you get when you are love...by someone?]  
  
They made a huge splash, and was being washed down the stream. [Sa...Sakura.] Syaoran managed to open one of his eyes, and saw Sakura washing down the river in front of him. He swam forward, and grabbed on to her hand.  
  
[Syaoran...?] Sakura thought. [I...I can feel you...]  
  
With his maximum strength, he grabbed onto a big rock that was near the shore, and pulled Sakura up the shore. Then he climbed up himself, he coughed hard, but he didn't forget the unconscious Sakura. "S...Sakura!" He crawled over to see her, and put her into his arms. "Sakura!"  
  
Sakura slowly opened her eyes, and looked at him. "Syaoran..." She said weakly. Syaoran was over whelmed: he hugged her tight. "Thank goodness." Sakura felt the warmth of his body, she grabbed on to his shirt. "You...you're still worrying about me...even when I tried to kill you..." Syaoran sighed, and closed his eyes. "It doesn't matter...as long as you're safe."  
  
"I..." And that was when Sakura realized: she was back to normal. "I...I'm myself again!" She was suddenly fully awakened; she sat up, and looked at her arms. "I...I'm back! I'm back, Syaoran!" She hugged him. Syaoran was confused. "What?" He said. Sakura let go of him, and looked at his face with watery eyes. "I was trapped in that mirror Jon gave me, and something took over my body, and she said she was trying to kill you!"  
  
Syaoran looked back at her, it all made sense to him now that she explained it. Sakura cried. "Syaoran...I was so afraid that she might succeed." Syaoran wrapped his arms around her. "It's okay...it's alright, I'm fine, see."  
  
They heard footsteps getting closer to them, a big yellow object just jumped over a bush, and landed in front of them. "Sakura! Syaoran!" It cried, Sakura and Syaoran looked up, and saw Jon, riding on Chocy. "Jon! Chocy!" The both cried. Jon got of Chocy, and ran over to see them. "Are you okay? I saw you guys jumped, that really scared me!"  
  
Sakura hit Jon on the head. "You and your stupid mirror, Jon! It almost killed both of us!" Jon replies with an "OW! But hey! You're back!"  
  
Syaoran looked at Sakura with concern. "So, are you sure you're okay?" Sakura nodded. "But I'm not sure what helped me back to normal."  
  
That hit Jon, "Oh! Right, the mirror! Sakura, is it still there?" Sakura looked down, the mirror was there all right, but it was all cracked up. Sakura took it off of her neck. "It's broken." She said. Jon examined it. "Hm...seems to be, I guess that's why you're back to yourself."  
  
Sakura looked at Syaoran softly. "I'm just glad that you're safe." Sakura hugged him, making sure that he was really here with her, that she wasn't dreaming this. "I've been so worried."  
  
Syaoran blushed, smiled, and returned her hug. "Silly thing..."  
  
Jon looked at the lovers with annoyed expressions, and suddenly, the mirror in his hand shattered, and became bits of magic that surrounded Sakura and Syaoran. They broke the hug and looked around them at the magic. It flew around them, and into the sky. Then all of the magic gathered, and formed a soul; a young girl took form, she smiled at the group.  
  
Thank you...for releasing my soul. She said with a goddess like voice. The group stared at her, "Who...are you?" Sakura asked.  
  
I am the spirit of the mirror's owner. I'm afraid I'm the one who did this...  
  
"Why? Why did you have you separate us?" Sakura shouted madly.  
  
I'm sorry for my action. I was dead unloved; therefore my hatred was gathered in this mirror that I once held. It allows me to transfer my spirit to whoever that touches the mirror. I was jealous of the ones that were being loved, therefore I use one of the lovers' body to destroy the two's relationship.  
  
For a moment, Sakura felt sorry for the unloved spirit that flows in the air. She continued. But the young man here set me free; his love to you has touched my soul, and for the first time in my life, I feel the love that I received. I was loved! Even thought I was in your body, I was truly loved! I've never felt this happy.  
  
Syaoran almost jumped when she said "his love to you", his face turned all red, and she was continuing her story before Syaoran got the chance to complain.  
  
Now my spirit is free, and I can head to the place I belong. Head to the place...I should be. She finished her sentence, and her body began to become transparent. Thank you...so much...I hope you two can be together forever...She disappeared. The group looks at each other, and smiled to one another.  
  
"Sakura, I thought you're afraid of ghost." Syaoran said, Sakura made a mad face and replied. "If she was really thinking of hurting you, I'll kill her! Even if she is a ghost!" Syaoran giggled, and Sakura leaned forward, a little bit embarrassed. "So...is what she said true?"  
  
Syaoran looked up. "Huh?" He said. Sakura continued. "Do you...love me?" Syaoran froze; he looked down, hesitating. "Um...I..." and finally, he looked up. "The truth is that, I..."  
  
He felt the glaring, he turned around, and saw Jon and Chocy staring at them with their full concentration. Syaoran groaned, and walked off. "Let's just go home! " He said shyly. Sakura ran to follow him. "No wait! You didn't answer me!" They ran off together, Jon and Chocy ran to catch up. "Hey, wait for us! Man, there's no way that I'm missing this." Jon said as he ran with Chocy.  
  
To be continued...  
  
~~~~~  
  
Well, that took long.  
  
Okay! I guess your eyes are all tired out, let just have a little rest now! ^_^  
  
Piggy Ho Ho February 24, 2001 


	19. The dream, the future, & the Fortune Tel...

THE LEGEND OF OMETIN "I'll fight till the end for the sake of your safety..."  
  
Chapter 19 ~~~~~  
  
"Wow~! Cool!" Sakura exclaimed as she ran down a street filled with luck and fortune-telling related accessories shops. They've reached a town of fortune-tellers. Everyone around them was dressed wildly with lots of different colors and fashions of textiles. "Sakura, don't run too far!" Syaoran shouted as he tried to catch up to her while leading Chocy into the crowds.  
  
"Wow, this one is strange, can it really bring luck? Oh, this one's so cute! Hoe, this one looks just like Kero!" Sakura shuffled through accessories from different stores, there were so many good luck charms, that she didn't know which one to get. Syaoran finally made his way to her. "Sakura, you don't really believe in this stuff, do you?" Sakura turned around, and smiled bright. "Of course I do! Don't you?"  
  
"Well," Syaoran shrugged. "Not really. I believe in magic powers and all, but I don't really believe in fortune-telling or good lucky charms." Sakura groaned. "Oh, come on, this place is one of a kind. Get into the spirit! Hey, you want a lucky charm?" Syaoran shook his head. "No thanks, one is good enough for me." He held out the lucky-charm Sakura gave him for Christmas. Sakura smiled, and blushed a little. "I guess so..." She turned around. "But you don't mind me getting one, right?"  
  
Syaoran smiled to himself. Looking at her made him feel peaceful. He took one of the charms, and started to examine. It was triangular mirror with a pebble in the middle. "What the heck does this do?"  
  
"Shake it." A girl said. He looked around to find a girl about a year older then him, perhaps older, standing to the left of him. "Eh?" He said. The girl smiled. "Just shake." He did. The pebble glowed, and reflected a 3D word in the air above it. It spelled "Most likely." Syaoran smiled, and commented. "Cool, it's just liked one of those magic eight balls. But cooler."  
  
"Magic eight balls?" The girl asked curiously. Syaoran blushed, and waved his arm. "Oh, never mind." He switched his topic, "Say, why are there so many fortune tellers in this town?"  
  
"You mean you don't know?" The girl asked. Syaoran shook his head. She began to explain. "This town is famous for fortune telling because of this place's location. It's right at the highest land point of the whole Ometin, one of the two highest cliffs that stand together. High places like this are very good for our fortune telling tools, such as my pebble." She showed him her pebble that was wrapped with strings on her left armpit. "People from all over Ometin come to this town just to get their fortune told. Say, you want me to tell your fortune? I can give you a discount since you're cute." She walked closer to him with a face that looked like she was going to eat him.  
  
Syaoran wasn't too keen on the comment. "Um...no thanks, I don't really trust fortune telling. I believe the only future is for us to create."  
  
The girl put her waist to her hip. "True, that's what I always tell my clients. Well, mostly for the ones with bad futures that is..." Syaoran smiled as a sweat drop rolled down his head. The girl sighed a little, and looked at Syaoran. Syaoran stared back. "What?"  
  
She smiled. "You're cute." Syaoran blushed, and asked again, "What??"  
  
At the same moment, Sakura skipped back with a cute little penguin bird charm in her hand. She caught sight of the girl and Syaoran, and made a grumpy face. She stood silently to listen to their conversation. "You know," The girl went on. "You look even cuter when you blush." She giggled; Syaoran blushed even harder and asked with an even more confusing tone. "What?!?!" The girl walked closer. "Say...are you with anyone right now?"  
  
"I...what...what do you mean..."  
  
"Ahem!" Sakura coughed unusually loudly, interrupting the two. "Sa, Sakura!" Syaoran said, ever glad to see her, he rushed to her. "It...it was a...I mean..."  
  
"Oh, I see." The girl smiled delightedly. "You ARE with someone."  
  
"I am Sakura Kinomoto, the one who's traveling with Syaoran." She glared. "Who might you be?"  
  
The girl brushed her hair smoothly, and took a bowl. "The name is Kinayo Koushiro. I'm very please to meet you and...your handsome boyfriend here."  
  
Sakura blushed, but was mad at the same time. Kinayo admired her expression; she seemed to enjoy playing with the feelings of the couple. "Say, you two are travelers right? Why don't you stay at my place? It's just around the block. It's on me, what do you say?"  
  
Sakura's ears moved when she said "It's on me". They do need to squeeze every penny now, after all, she didn't know how long will this trip take. Kinayo skipped closer. "Well?"  
  
"Fine, we'll do it."  
  
"That's great! Now come on!" She led them to her house. Sakura, Syaoran and Chocy followed, Syaoran whispered to Sakura when they walked. "Sakura, can we really trust her?" Sakura looked at him and smiled. "Her first entrance might be a bit rude, but I don't think she's a bad person." Syaoran sighed. "You're too simple-minded, not everyone is as nice as you."  
  
Sakura giggled. "Thanks for the compliment, but I'll know what to do, and beside." She held up the penguin bird lucky charm. "I still have this to protect me." Syaoran lowered his head, and sighed hardly. "Oh, Sakura..."  
  
~~~~~  
  
They walked for around five minutes, and reached a small but fancy fortune telling shop in the middle of the business district. Sakura and company stepped up, and examined the shop. The sign on top of the door read "The House of Fate", it is made out of blue glass with white letterings. As a matter of fact, the whole shop was bluish. Even the windows were made out of blue glasses. The walls were some sorts of blue jade, and it got a shiny surface. She opened the door and invited them into it. "Come on, what are you waiting for?"  
  
They followed her in. Now they were in a circular room with all shorts of lucky charms hanging on the wall, in the middle of the room stood a small table with long, thin legs. The only light source of the room is the dim light that hung low above the table. There were windows, but the drapes were closed. Behind the table was a door hidden by a curtain that seems to lead to Kinayo's living area. Syaoran looked around, and felt uncomfortable. "It's so dark in here..." He said. Kinayo turned around and grinned at him. "This is the business area. It's just to create a mysterious atmosphere to help my customer to get into the mood. If you like light, come into the living area". She lift the curtain, behind the door was a narrow, spiral shaped stairway. They climbed the steep and twisted stairs and reached another door.  
  
Sakura and Syaoran both exclaimed as Kinayo opened the door. This room was still circular, but everything else was so much different from the other room. There were no ceiling; instead, there was a huge semispherical glass that covered the top of the building. The room was bright; beside then the light that was coming from the transparent "ceiling", there were at least five windows, each on narrow and long. In the center of the room was a crystal armillary sphere with two white sofas surrounding it. There was a white table with four chairs at one corner; it seemed to be the dining area. The room was decorated with white objects, unlike the other room. There were four doors in that room, one leads to the bedroom, one leads to the guestroom, one leading to a hallway with washroom and kitchen, and the last one is the one they just cam in.  
  
"So." Kinayo turned around, and looked at them. "I guess you two can share a bed tonight." Both Sakura and Syaoran's faces turned red. "What??" They exclaimed together. Kinayo studied their expression. "What?" She repeated. "Or do you, Sakura, preferred the match of Syaoran and me...?" Sakura blushed; she wasn't too happy about Kinayo's joke. "Syaoran and I are matching up of course!" She yelled madly.  
  
"Good." Kinayo said. "It's settled then."  
  
The doorbell rang, Kinayo ran down. "Oh, a customer!" Sakura and Syaoran followed. As they reached the first floor and backed to the business area, they saw an old lady waiting at the door. "Kinayo, honey?" the old lady said. "Can you give me some advice?"  
  
"Sure, Mrs. Kinsweth." She said, and then turned around. "I've got to take care of my customer now, why don't you go out and have a look at the town?" Sakura and Syaoran nodded, and walked out of the door. As they leave, people started to line up at the shop to get their fortunes told. Syaoran commented, "Wow, she's really good at it, isn't she?" Sakura tapped his shoulder, and pointed to the shop across from her. "Not as good as that one." Syaoran looked, and gasped. The line across the street was much longer than Kinayo's.  
  
"Holly." Syaoran said. "This guy must be good." Sakura pulled his arm. "Let's go and have a look!" Syaoran complained. "But it's a very long line." Sakura refused to give up. "Come on, let's just peek through the curtain."  
  
They looked through the window. The inside of the shop was pretty much identical to Kinayo's, even darker, if possible. The lights were decorated with black instead of blue like Kinayo's, and gave it a little evil feeling. They saw a young man in a hood telling fortune with a big mirror. The mirror had two dragons around it as decoration. An old man walked up, and asked the young man. "I...I want to know, if my legs will ever get better?" The young man took out his wooden staff, and pointed it towards the mirror. He touched the mirror with it, and the staff was dipped into the mirror like as if the mirror was water. He started to stir it like instant coffee. Moments later, he stopped, but the mirror was still jiggling. He pushed the old man to the front of the mirror. "Look into it, it shows you the answer to your question." The old man swallowed hard, and looked. He saw himself sitting on wheelchair. He shook his head wildly. "No, this can't be right. I just hit my leg a little on a pole, how can that be?" His voice was shaky; the young man walked closer to him, and put a hand on his shoulder. "Our lives and fortunes were already decided since the day we were born. Nothing can change fate, the only purpose of fortune telling is to make you prepare for the worst."  
  
The old man looked at him, still feeling a little shocked, he suddenly lost all of his hope. "I...I guess I'll go buy a wheelchair while I can still walk." He slowly walked out of the room, and into the street. The young man looked at him, and sighed. "Another hopeless soul. I'm sorry, but I'm not god, I can't change the future. The best we can do is to prepare for the worst."  
  
Sakura and Syaoran couldn't believe what they just saw; they looked at each other, and nodded. They ran to chase after the old man.  
  
Around few minutes later, they saw the old man walking along the side of a small hill. "I guess I'll do some of my last walking while I still can." Sakura and Syaoran caught up to him. "Hey, wait up, mister!" They yelled. The old man turned around. "Why, what can I help you with, little kids." Sakura and Syaoran looked at each other, they didn't know what to say, they weren't even sure why did they chase him, but they felt like they have to. "I..." Sakura said. "I just want to say don't take it so seriously!"  
  
"Yeah!" Syaoran agreed. "Fortune telling isn't always right, you shouldn't give up so easily."  
  
The old man gave them a smile. "Thanks for trying to cheer me up, but I know I'm doomed."  
  
Sakura shook her head wildly. "No you're not! Don't say things like that! I'm pretty sure those legs are fine! You really should see a doctor instead of a fortune teller."  
  
The old man grinned. "Oh, I guess you kids don't know the power of Israel's mirror."  
  
"Israel? Is that the fortune teller's name?" Syaoran asked. The old man nodded. "He bought it from a local merchant a few months ago. That thing can tell anyone's fortune, and its percentage of being right is always 100%! If the thing says the sky's going to rain, it's going to rain! If it says you're going to be a millionaire, you're going to be a millionaire! If it says you're going to be cripple, you better go buy yourself a wheel chair. He he he..." He laughed hopelessly, and continued to walk. Sakura looked at him sadly. "But still, you might beat the odds!" She said. The old man waved, and yelled. "Thanks anyway, kids!" Sakura and Syaoran looked at each other, and slowly, they began their journey back to Kinayo's house.  
  
~~~~~  
  
"Israel?" Kinayo asked surprisingly during dinner. She scooped up another spoon of thick, rich soup that she made, and drank it up, swallowing it before continuing. "The guy across from my shop? How'd you meet him?" There was a bit of angriness to her tone.  
  
"Well, we thought we go around town, and saw him telling fortune." Sakura said, putting down her glass of water. "Then we saw him making that old man feel sad by filling his mind with hopeless futures."  
  
"Yeah, that Israel's pretty good at it, isn't he?" Kinayo sighed, "Ever since he got that mirror he had really became competitive." Syaoran looked at her curiously. "Is that what all fortune tellers do? Reveal horrible futures to their customers and make them feel like the whole world is coming to an end?" Kinayo looked at him, and laughed. "Oh, come on. I don't look that bad do I? Each fortune teller has a different way of predicting, I use my pebble right here." She pointed to her pebble wrapped with a string at the upper arm. "I dip it in the special water I create with the aqua sand and it reveals a foreshadowing image of the answer to my customer's problem. Most of us can only see foreshadowing while Israel can really look into the exact future with his mirror. That's why most of the customers go to his shop." She brushed her hair back casually. "But this isn't what fortune telling is mean to be, the customers were only supposed to use the vision they see as a guide, not a fate creator. They should just see it, get over it, and move on with their lives."  
  
"So," Sakura said. "That old man won't necessarily become cripple?"  
  
Kinayo shook her head sadly. "I don't know...everything Israel predicted has came true so far. I doubt that the old man stand a chance, but hey, you never know." She shifted in her seat. "I...rather not talk about him though..."  
  
"Huh?" Sakura tilted her head. "Is something wrong?"  
  
Kinayo put her spoon down, and frowned. "He's just a cold-blooded monster, that's all."  
  
"Why'd you say that?"  
  
"He is! Just half a year ago, when he first purchased the mirror, he saw his own sister's death and told no one about it until the day she died! He didn't even shad a tear! He said that was her fate, and he couldn't do anything about it! I can't stand him, his sister was one of my best friend and he let her die..."  
  
Sakura looked down, and didn't say a thing for the rest of the meal.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Sakura sat on the bed in her pajamas and stared peacefully at the moon. Syaoran can in after he took a shower. "Can't sleep?" He smiled to her. She looked at him, and then looked down. "No."  
  
He sat on the bed, and touched her face gently. "Don't worry about it too much." Sakura shrugged, "It's just that..." She looked back up at the moon. "It really makes me think. Is our future already decided? If it is, why do we even bother trying? Why can't we just let it go?"  
  
"You can't think like that." Syaoran said. He leaned closer to her. "If you do that, then there's no hope at all. You have to keep trying. The only fate is in our hand. We have the power to control it. And if you don't try to keep going," He put his forehead to hers. "I'll keep it going for you."  
  
Sakura blushed, and smiled. "Thanks, Syaoran. But I don't think I'll have problem keep my life going."  
  
Syaoran smiled. "Now go to sleep." He patted her shoulder, and they fell asleep under the peaceful moon.  
  
~~~~~  
  
"I'll fight till the end for the sake of your safety..."  
  
"Wait...who...are you...?"  
  
For the first time, she could see the outline of the person's figure. It was bright behind him; she couldn't really see his face. She narrowed her eyes, trying to get a better look.  
  
"Sy...Syaoran?"  
  
Just when she recognized him, his body was pulled away; everything was suddenly dark.  
  
Then something wet dropped on her face.  
  
Blood.  
  
"What...?"  
  
"It's...raining...blood."  
  
"Sy...Syaoran..."  
  
"SYAORAN!!!"  
  
Sakura jerked up on her bed, trying to catch her breath. Her body was sweaty, and her throat was dry. "It was just a dream." She whispered, and looked aside; Syaoran was sleeping peacefully beside her under the moonlight. She didn't like the vision in that dream. It could mean trouble. She remembered how Kero always used to her to remember her dreams because a magician can always predict one's future in a dream. She shivered, wishing that he were wrong. She didn't like the idea of Syaoran being taken away under the shower of blood drops.  
  
She leaned closer to Syaoran, close enough to hear him breath. It made her feel peaceful just listening to him breathing. She put her head on his shoulder. The thought of being separated from him hurts her. She decided to ask Kinayo about the dream tomorrow. Meanwhile, she needed some good sleep.  
  
Sakura lay down, lifted Syaoran's arm, and put it around herself. She snuggled in Syaoran's chest, wrapped her hands around his waist, and fell asleep.  
  
She didn't have that dream again for the rest of the night.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Syaoran's eyes slowly opened; bright sunlight shone on the closed drape, but still passing enough light through to wake him up. He sighed, and closed his eyes again, thinking that he'd better sleep in for a little longer. Moments later, he realized that something was around his body, it took him at least five seconds for him to realize Sakura was hugging him in her sleep, and he had his arms around her shoulder. Maybe that was the reason he felt extra warm last night. All of the sudden, the blood through his body concentrated on his face, and he blushed wildly in reaction.  
  
He tried to calm down. Slowly, he removed her hands from him and sat up on the bedside. He knew he needed to freshen up a little. He needed to be awake, period.  
  
As he changed and walked out of the room quietly, Kinayo popped up in front of him. "Hi!" That gave Syaoran a little stroke; he backed up and put his hand to his heart, feeling his own heartbeat. "What do you want?" He asked hastily. Kinayo put her index finger to her mouth. "Just asking if you want breakfast. Boy, you look suspicious. What are you doing sneaking around my house?"  
  
"No...nothing..." Syaoran said, avoiding eye contacts. Kinayo studied his expression, and understood what was going on. Her mouth curled up a little, and looked at him closely. "You know, I felt pretty guilty, squishing you two onto one tiny little bed." The topic made Syaoran's heart race. She continued. "I hope I didn't put you two in an awkward situation. Nothing...nothing happened back there, right? I mean...between you two."  
  
"What??" He stared. Right away, Kinayo turned away. "Oh...nothing...just trying to ask if you had a good sleep."  
  
"Couldn't you just ask it like that then?"  
  
"Why? Nothing...happened, right?"  
  
"Um. I...I've got to go!" Syaoran ran downstairs before he even finished the sentence; a gust of wind blew up as he went by. Kinayo turned around and giggled to herself.  
  
Sakura was waked up by the noise; she walked to the door sleepily. "What...is going on...?" She yawned. Kinayo shook her head. "Nothing...Syaoran just went out for a walk that's all." Sakura rubbed her eyes. "He sure did it loudly..." Kinayo giggled again. "Sure did."  
  
~~~~~  
  
"Phew..." Syaoran sighed as he stepped out of Kinayo's shop. "Sometimes I don't know what does she want from me." He said grumpily, and started walking. He came to a stop as he saw Israel saying good-bye to his father. He had his hood down, Syaoran could see clearly now. Israel had short, white hair, a pair of shiny blue eyes, and a pebble tide around his forehead. "Have a good day, father." He said, looking up at a man in his mid-forties, and had a tummy as big as a melon. "Be careful in the land mine."  
  
[His father?] Syaoran thought to himself. [Hard to believe a strange kid like him has a normal father like that.]  
  
"Whatever, son." His father said cruelly. "You should've tell that to your sister before she was bitten by that snake in the forest if you're so smart." Israel looked hurt; he lowered his head and murmured. "But this is exactly what I'm doing..." His father didn't hear the last sentence; he headed to work.  
  
But Syaoran knew what he was saying, he could tell by reading his lips. Syaoran frowned, and watched as Israel's father left. Israel headed back to his shop. Syaoran followed him.  
  
Israel took up his wooden staff, and started to stir up the mirror again. "I'm sorry, my father. I could do nothing to stop this from happening." As he stopped stirring, an image appeared. Syaoran peeked through the window like yesterday. He gasped as he watched.  
  
The mirror showed an image of a rockslide, tons and tons of heavy rocks tumbling down a steep hill. The image also showed workers fleeing for their lives, many of them managed to make it out of the paths of the rock, but one was buried under miles of storming stones.  
  
He was Israel's father.  
  
"What the heck do you think you're doing?" Syaoran charged through the door. Israel was shocked, turning around sharply, he asked. "Who the devil are you?" The image on the mirror fainted away as he did.  
  
Syaoran ignored the question. "You know your father's going to die, and you're not going to even try and stop it?" He yelled. Israel shook his head. "There's nothing I can do, nothing can change fate. We don't have the power to do anything. All we can do is watch and accept the fact."  
  
Syaoran was furious. "I don't believe it...is this whole fortune telling business more important than your family?"  
  
Israel yelled back. "It's not something I can choose. People die, there's nothing we can do about it. We must let it go." Syaoran's hands were shaking from rage. He held them together tightly, forming two shaky fists. The more he looked, the more he hated the person that was in front of him. He held his anger back until he couldn't hold it any longer.  
  
Pow!  
  
Syaoran's angry fist slammed Israel's face hard. Israel fell back to the mirror, hitting it hard, and formed a long crack on it. Israel looked up slowly; the sun light behind Syaoran hurt his eyes. He could only saw a blurry figure of Syaoran. "I don't see why should your family die," Syaoran said. "When you're the one who deserves to go to hell the most." Israel's eyes widened, feeling ashamed, he said nothing.  
  
Syaoran turned and ran. Israel stood up. "Hey! Where do you think you're going?" Syaoran braked, and looked at him. "If you're not going to," He said surely. "Then I'm going to try and save your father." He rushed out of the shop as he finished his sentence.  
  
~~~~~  
  
"A dream?"  
  
Kinayo asked. The girls were inside her shop, Sakura told her about her dream, and wished to do a reading on it. "Can you help me?" She asked. Kinayo nodded. "Sure." She replied, and took off the pebble that was wrapped around her left armpit. "Come." She told Sakura as she walked towards the long legged table in the middle of the room.  
  
She grabbed a pouch full of magical dust, and sprinkled it on the table. The dust shone and floated in the air. Kinayo snapped her finger; the dust expanded, and become water. It was floating in the air like a flying disc with clear light blue colour. She told Sakura to stand across from her, and close her eyes. Sakura did, and then she told her to start picturing the dream in her mind, every single detail of it. Sakura tried hard; then Kinayo dipped her pebble into the water, and told Sakura to open her eyes and look into the water.  
  
The water reflected an image from her dream, this time she was sure: it was Syaoran. "It was..." Sakura said. "It really was him..."  
  
The image showed him being pulled back, further and further away from her. Then there was total darkness; moments later, it started raining. It was raining...blood.  
  
The image disappeared, there wasn't much different between this and her dream. She wanted to know what it means. Kinayo put her hand to her mouth and started thinking. "Hm..." She said. "It could be telling what lays a head." Sakura looked up at her. "What do you mean?" She asked hastily. Kinayo looked at her seriously, and said. "Your dream...it's predicting the future."  
  
"The future?" Sakura asked. "What kind of future?"  
  
"I don't know...this isn't really clear." Kinayo said. She glanced at Sakura, who was shaking, and gripping her own hand. Kinayo knew what she was thinking: she's afraid to loose Syaoran.  
  
"Let's just pretend that this is a before and after picture." Kinayo said, trying to cheer her up. Sakura looked at her with confusion. "Hoe?" Kinayo tapped the table. "In another word, look at it as a warning. Syaoran being taking away, and then there's the rain of blood. Let's just say the rain of blood is some sort of disaster or aftermath of Syaoran's kidnap. Then all you have to do is grab on to him really, really tight!" Kinayo held her two fists together tightly and showed Sakura what kind of tight she was talking about. Sakura stared, and giggled. "Thanks, Kinayo." Kinayo laughed, too. "No problem." She looked around. "Say, Syaoran's taking awfully long for his walk." She turned back to her. "Want to go check on him?"  
  
Sakura nodded, the girls went out of the shop.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Syaoran was running at his maximum speed. His lung was hurting, but he couldn't stop, not now. He arrived at an open landmine site. There were a lot of workers around, digging and shuffling. At a glance, Syaoran thought all of them looked the same, he couldn't tell which one was Israel's father.  
  
He breathed hard, calm, he told himself. [You'll have to calm down and use your magic to search for him.]  
  
There was no time to use his board; he'll have to do it in his mind. He closed his eyes, and concentrated. Shadows of the workers appeared in his mind. He scanned them, swallowing as he did. Then he saw him, standing beside a steep hill. Syaoran opened his eyes, like the image he saw in his head, he found his target. Israel's father was standing beside a steep hill, a steep hill with rocks piled for at least five meters high, roughly held together with two ropes.  
  
He dashed, like he had never dashed before. Syaoran ran at his top speed, hoping to get Israel's father as faraway from the rock pile as possible. He dashed faster, sweeping by other workers.  
  
That was when it happened.  
  
He wasn't sure, but he could see a blurry figure on the top of the rock pile. The figure bended down, and was playing around with the ropes. Seconds later, the ropes snapped, and the rocks were sliding down. Most of the workers saw it coming, and ran away. Israel's father was still standing at the same place, confused. He looked back, and was horrified to find the piles of rock ready to burry him alive.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Kinayo wasn't going to do it. It wasn't like her to care for the fool. But she couldn't help herself but take a look when she saw Israel's mirror was broken and he had a bruise on his left face. Sakura followed her into the shop. She saw Kinayo putting her hands on her waist when she asked cruelly. "Hey, what the heck happened back here? Did the devil himself finally come and try to take you?"  
  
Israel gave a faint smile. "Just a fool that was trying to go against fate." Then his smile was gone. "But he was a worthy fool, too good to die, though."  
  
"What on earth are you talking about?"  
  
"I saw my father's future. He's going to die in a rockslide today."  
  
The girls gasped. He continued. "But a boy came in this morning. Saying that I shouldn't be controlled by fate, and find my own way instead. He found out about my father's fate, and tried to stop it. Anyone knows if he does, he'll be burry in that rock slide, too."  
  
[Find my own way...?] Sakura's heart leaped. "Was it a boy with brown hair and dark brown eyes?" She asked fearfully. She watched and gasped as Israel nodded slightly. "Syaoran!" She yelled, and ran out to get Chocy.  
  
~~~~~  
  
"Look out!!" Syaoran was now a few feet away from him; he charged with his maximum force, jumped, and pushed him out of the way.  
  
Storms of dust hit the air along with a thundering noise. The workers coughed and coughed. One of the workers yelled. "Hey! Someone! Go see the boss and that kid!! Hurry!!" All the workers gathered around the area of the rockslide. The dust hadn't clear yet, they fanned the air with their hand, everyone of them yelling, "Boss! Kid!"  
  
They were relieved to see both of them landed around one meters away from the rockslide, and reached safety. They were safe! It was all like a miracle!  
  
Syaoran slowly got up, he remembered Israel's father, and turned around quickly to see if he's all right. The big man lay there; his big tummy was going up and down, that means he was breathing. Syaoran sighed, and smile.  
  
Slowly, Israel's father opened his eyes. He got up, and looked around. "What happened?" The workers explained the situation to him, and pointed to Syaoran. The big man walked towards him with stumbling steps, and took Syaoran's hand, shaking it hard. "Thank you, thank you so much! You have saved my life! How can I ever thank you."  
  
Syaoran took his hand back. "It's no big deal, really." And forced a smile. All the workers gathered around him to give him a pat on the shoulder. As they commented on his bravery and speed, Sakura and Kinayo came along on Chocy's back. "Syaoran!" They yelled. The group of workers backed up to open a path for them. Sakura jumped off Chocy before Chocy even stopped. She rushed up to Syaoran, putting both hands on his shoulders. "Are you okay?" She asked worriedly. Syaoran shook his head with a smile. One of the workers stepped up and said. "Yeah, he was really cool! He saved the boss's live from the rockslide!" The others agreed. Syaoran blushed and scratched the back of his head. "It's really nothing."  
  
Sakura looked at Syaoran with a gentle smile, and threw herself around him. She was glad that he was safe, and the dream didn't come true. "My hero." She said, hugging him tightly. Syaoran blushed. The workers yelled "Woo- hoo" and started to whistle at them.  
  
"But..." Kinayo said. "What caused the rockslide?"  
  
Israel's father pointed to the broken rope. "The rope broke off. We have to get some safer ropes if we don't want this to happen again." He turned to face the workers and clapped his hands. "All right, folks! Break it up! We need to go back to work and clean up this mess!" The workers said yes sir, and went back to their position. Kinayo walked towards the rope; she knew something was going on. She picked up the ropes, and saw what she expected to see.  
  
Sakura and Syaoran joined her. "What's wrong?" Sakura asked, leaning towards her with her hands at her knees. Kinayo turned around and showed them the rope. "Look at the end that had been broken off." She said, handing the rope to them. Sakura and Syaoran examined it; Syaoran frowned. "The end is even; this was purposely cut off." Sakura gasped. "You mean..."  
  
Kinayo nodded. "This was no accident. Someone was trying to kill somebody back here."  
  
"Come to think of it." Syaoran said. "There was someone standing on top of the pile of rocks when I came. He didn't wear the worker's uniform; he was an outsider." He looked around and scanned the field. He came to stop when he saw a suspicious personnel headed towards the wood area. "There!" He pointed, and ran towards him. Sakura and Kinayo followed.  
  
The figure knew he had been spotted. He sprinted towards the wood and disappeared into it. Sakura and the others arrived at the wood, and ran into it without thinking. They ran deeper and deeper, away from the mine site, until they realized they'd lost him. Syaoran slowed down, and came to a stop. The girls behind him gasped for air. He looked around, and hit the nearest tree. "Damn!" He cursed.  
  
"Why? Why would he do that?" Sakura said between her breathe. Kinayo nodded, agreeing to her. Syaoran shook his head, he didn't know. "I have no idea why. It was as if that person wanted Israel's statement to become reality. I don't understand..."  
  
"The merchant." Kinayo gasped as the thought came to her. "The merchant, it was him! It has to be him!" Sakura and Syaoran looked at her, then at each other. "What merchant?" Sakura asked. Kinayo explained. "It has to be the merchant that sold Israel his mirror! To make his mirror's prediction come true! Yes, that's the only possible explanation!"  
  
The group nodded, they seemed to be buying this theory. It made sense.  
  
"Darn, I was hoping that I could stay under cover. But I think I have no choice but to destroy all of you."  
  
The group gasped as they heard a mysterious voice said. They looked around. A man did a back flip, and jumped down from a tall tree near by, landing in front of them. "Who are you?" Syaoran yelled.  
  
"Fred!" Kinayo yelled. "He's the merchant! That's him!" She pointed to him as if she was pointing at a murderer on the court. The man had white hair, combed to the back of his head like spikes. God knows how much jell he spent on his head. "That's right, it's me." He laughed. "It's ashamed that you know my little plan. You all have figured out too much to live. You simply have to die."  
  
"Why?" Sakura yelled. "Why did you do it?"  
  
"It was a rather simple plan," He began to explain. "You see I was to sell Israel that mirror of his, and then project images into it. The images are just made up images created by me, showing bad fortunes of people getting hurt, kill or whatsoever. And then what I do is I go ahead and make those so call prediction a reality. How do I do that? Simply by hurting or killing those people that went to Israel for fortune telling. Then I can cause chaos and disorders in this society without people getting suspicious." He began to laugh. "Isn't that simple? Isn't that great?"  
  
"You...you..." Kinayo glared at him with angry eyes. "This is unforgivable! You are a total disgrace to the whole fortune telling industry. People like you deserve to die!"  
  
"Wait..." Syaoran said. "Did you say create chaos and disorder? That means...you are one of the missioners!"  
  
"Ah, I'm afraid you have known even more than you should now. Good, that would give me another reason to kill you!" He ran forward, charging toward Syaoran at a high speed. Syaoran panicked; then he pulled out his sword and swung. Fred disappeared before Syaoran could slice him; Syaoran looked around but found no trace of him. Sakura yelled. "Syaoran! He's up there!" She pointed. Syaoran looked up and saw him coming down with a long knife in his hand, ready to stab him on head.  
  
Sakura released her key fast, and used shield to protect Syaoran. Fred hit the shield, bounced a few meter away, and landed a few feet away from Syaoran. "Ah, I see you know magic. Don't mind if I use a little magic of my own." He put his hand together. Suddenly, his body became blurry.  
  
Sakura ran forward to see Syaoran. "Are you okay?" She asked. Syaoran nodded. They looked up to see Fred in the bushes, jumping here and there. It took them a while to realize they were looking at more than on of him. There were at least ten of him jumping around the wood. The next thing that came was an echo of laugher. "Can you tell which one is me? If you can't you're toast!"  
  
Kinayo watched as many Freds jumping around the wood. She could help them; she knew it. She snapped the pebble of off her armpit, and began to concentrate with the pebble in her hand. She closed her eyes and mumbled some spells. Her eyes snapped open, and her pebble was floating towards the real Fred, following him everywhere. If She weren't holding the string, the pebble would have fly out of her hand and towards Fred like a strong magnet. "There!" She yelled, and pointed. "That one's the real one! Behind the tall tree!"  
  
The real Fred glared at Kinayo. She backed up a little. All the fake Freds disappeared, and the real one jumped up towards her. "We don't want a smarty, now, do we?"  
  
"Kinayo!" Sakura yelled; she drew out a card. "Wood! Tangle Fred's legs!" The wood card released into thousand branches of ivies, all headed towards Fred. The ivies got hold of his legs, and drew him back in the air. He landed hard on his face. It definitely pissed him off.  
  
"Oh, little girl..." Fred looked up behind and over his shoulder. "You have made the biggest mistake of your live!" He used his long knife to free himself. In a slice, the ivies were all cut off. He got to his feet, and charged toward Sakura. Sakura reacted fast; she drew out the jump card, and leaped into the air. Unfortunately, Fred followed her. It was unbelievable that he used his own strength to jump as high as Sakura. "I got you now, little girl." He reached out and was about to grab her leg when a blast of fire appeared in front of him, burning him and blasting him away from Sakura. Sakura turned to found out it was Syaoran who used his charm to save her. She gave him a faint smile. He smiled back.  
  
Fred landed screaming, but the screaming didn't last long as he got up to his feet. His burns were already healing. "That was fun while it lasted, but it didn't last long, now, did it?" He held his knife up. "And I have a feeling this fight won't last long either!" He charged again. Sakura landed beside Syaoran, for a moment, their eyes met, and they knew what to do. "Wind!" Syaoran drew out his wind charm. Meanwhile, Sakura drew out her Sand card. "Sand!"  
  
The magic mixed together to form a dust storm. Fred could do nothing but block the dust storm with his hand. He nudged slowly forward. "We don't have much time!" Sakura said. "We need to find his tattoo fast!"  
  
"Tattoo?" Kinayo asked from behind a tree. She had been staying out of the battle area ever since Fred tried to slice her up like lettuce. She saw Syaoran nodded. "It's like a weak spot." Kinayo took out her pebble. "I can help." Again, magic started to gather, and she closed her eyes. She scanned Fred's body in her mind. In her head, she was looking from up to down, left to right. Suddenly, her attention was grabbed by a mark on Fred's left waist. She opened her eyes, there, she told herself. "It's there! By his left waist!"  
  
Sakura and Syaoran nodded to the cue. They stopped their magic. Fred was gasping for air as they stopped. His vision was blurred from the sand, when his vision came back, the first thing he saw was Syaoran coming up to him. Then with a swing of Syaoran's sword, the battle was over. His body vanished, and his soul sucked into the crystal.  
  
All of them collapsed and sat down as the battle finished. It was very tiresome, and all of their energy had been burnt out. "Man," Kinayo sighed. "That was close! I hope to see nothing like that ever again!" Then at the moment, they looked at each other, and grinned.  
  
~~~~~  
  
"So now do you believe there's no such thing as fortune telling? At the end, it was Fred who created all the accidents." Syaoran said as they walked down the road out of town on Chocy's back. Sakura nodded slowly. "Well, kind of. But I really like this cute little charm!" She held up her penguin bird charm. Syaoran sighed. "Sakura..."  
  
"Okay...but I'd say Kinayo really have the power."  
  
"Well, maybe...still, the bottom line is that you've got to build your own future with your own hands, you got that?"  
  
"Yeah, I got it. It's too bad that Kinayo can't say good-bye to us when we leave today, though."  
  
"I heard that she's got some personal business to take care of."  
  
"Hmm..." Sakura hummed. "I wonder what could it be?"  
  
~~~~~  
  
The sun shone high in the sky, the light was reflected on the golden lettering of a cross-shaped grave, out in the open field with green grass. A bundle of flowers were placed next to the grave by Israel. He stood up, and looked down upon the grave of his sister. His smiled, and said. "You have no idea how glad I am to know father is not sleeping next to you. I guess I own one to that fool."  
  
He looked up into the sky, smiling, with a bit of pity in his voice, he continued. "I guess I'm the real fool. If I had figured Fred was behind all of this sooner, you wouldn't be here in the first place." He looked down, closing eyes, he sighed.  
  
He heard footsteps behind him; he turned around to find that it was Kinayo, with a bundle of flowers in her hand. "Oh...hey." She said. He smiled to her. "Hello." She came to the grave and put her flowers down. "What are you doing here?" She asked. Israel joked and said. "A brother can't come to visit his own sister?" Kinayo turned away from him. "You don't deserve to be her brother." He looked down, and sighed again. "Maybe I don't." She looked at him, and was surprised to see a bit of regret in his eyes.  
  
They sat down next to the grave. "So what are you going to do? No one will believe you as a fortune teller anymore, not after the incident." Kinayo asked. Israel shook his head. "I don't know. But it's okay, I'm still young, I'll find something." Kinayo stared at him; she had never saw this side of him before, perhaps it was because she never really looked at him. "Well," she said, standing up. "If you want to find something, you can always ask me. I've got connections." She started to walk away. "I'll be across from you."  
  
Israel smiled, "You know...you're really not bad as a girl."  
  
Kinayo turned around, surprised; she looked at him for a while. Moments later she found the words she was looking for. "Shut up."  
  
~~~~~  
  
Well, I hope you liked this chapter! Kinayo is based on the "Legend of Ometin contest" winner! ^(oo)^ The character was designed according to her will! I'm sorry that the chapter took so long! And please join us in the next chapter or the next "Legend of Ometin contest"!  
  
Piggy Ho Ho ^(oo)^ April 15, 2001 


	20. Luke, Yukito, & Syaoran's decision

Legend of Ometin "I'll fight till the end for the sake of your safety. Chapter 20 ~~~~~  
  
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.  
  
Those were the sound of Chocy walking up a hill on a cloud day in Ometin. Sakura and Syaoran bounced up and down on Chocy's back according to the rhythm of his tapping. Sakura looked up the hill; it seemed to go on forever. "There's no end to this." She complained. Syaoran turned around and said. "Kinayo did say that this is one of the highest mountain in Ometin. He turned back, and asked. "Chocy, aren't you tired?"  
  
Chocy shook his head happily. He kept going. Moments later, they saw the end of the hill, and it started to head down up ahead. "Finally!" Sakura sighed delightedly as Chocy head up to the last part of the hill.  
  
Unfortunately, what awaited them was a head was a cliff that went straight down. The walked up to the edge, and stared down, swallowing. "It's so high that you can't even see the bottom." Sakura said. Chocy backed up slowly. Sakura and Syaoran jumped off him as he did. "Great." Syaoran said sarcastically, "Now how are we going to head north?"  
  
"I guest we'll have to go back to the bottom of the mountain and go around it." Sakura said with her finger to her mouth, thinking. Syaoran sighed. "What a great idea.that'd probably take days."  
  
"Are you trying to cross?" They heard a voice said. The turned to their left to see a girl around their age; she was just standing there. Syaoran walked towards her. "What do you mean 'cross'?" The girl pointed to the cliff. "This is the place between two high cliffs, the other cliff is located around five miles across from here. You can continue your journey north if you get there."  
  
"Five miles?" Sakura exclaimed. "How do we get across?"  
  
The girl smiled; she turned and waved her hand. "Follow me."  
  
Sakura and Syaoran followed her on Chocy's back. The walked along the cliff for around half a mile, then a house appeared. It was a fat cylindered cement house with a cone shape top. It looked like a flatten rocket. Above the door was a wooded sign. Syaoran read, "Hot air balloon for rent?" The girl went to the door and nodded. "If you want to get across, the only way is by hot air balloons. We can rent it for you."  
  
"We?" Sakura asked.  
  
"My other two sisters and me. We're triplets, my name is Olia, the other two is Polia and Holia. Polia will be at the other end of the cliff, and Holia will be on Gauliodo when you get there."  
  
"Gauliodo?" Sakura and Syaoran both asked.  
  
"You don't know what Gauliodo is?" Olia asked. Sakura and Syaoran shook their head.  
  
"Gauliodo is the air city." Olia explained. "It is a city supported by a huge floating rock, a rare kind of mineral. It floats in the air, that's why it's called the air city. Five miles is way too long for the balloon to go on one trip so you'll have to make a stop there to refill your hot air supply."  
  
"I understand now." Sakura said. "We'll take one."  
  
~~~~~  
  
Minutes later, they were flying over to the other cliff on their egg- shaped hot air balloon with tinny wings on both sides as decoration. Sakura looked down to the cliff, and saw Olia waving at them at the edge. Sakura rushed to the side of the balloon, and waved back. She was waving so hard that she almost fell off, Syaoran saw her, and grabbed her by her waist, pulling her back.  
  
They flew higher; they were now over the clouds and out of Olia's sight. Sakura looked around her, the sight was simply amazing: nothing but blue sky and clouds. The wind blew on their face gently; for once, they can sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.  
  
Sakura thought she must had fallen asleep, because the next thing she knew was Syaoran shaking her lightly to tell her they had arrived. She got up, and exclaimed as she saw a floating city before her. The city was constructed on a piece of floating island, just like Olia said; the rock floated in the air with water coming down that dropped into the ocean below. There was a gate ahead of them; behind the gate there were markets and residential areas. But the most significant sight would have to be the crystal palace that took up nearly half of the island. The crystal shined with blinding green light under the bright sun, the palace was in the shape of an arch with tall supporting poles. It was kind of similar to the ones they saw back in Sami City, the underwater land.  
  
They arrived at the gate, and a guard came to welcome them. The guard had dark skin and was wearing a white rob around him. He held a spear beside him and yelled up to Sakura and Syaoran as they tried to land the balloon. "Careful. Do you know how to land this thing?" He yelled in a strong accent. Sakura yelled back. "Um.not really."  
  
"That's okay." They guard said. "I'll come and help you."  
  
"Come and help us.?" Syaoran stared. "How do you come and help us when we're all the way up here." He stopped as the guard revealed a pair of bright white wings from under his robe. He flopped and flew into the sky towards them. He took hold of the basket, and started to pull. "I'll help you land." He said. Sakura and Syaoran stared. "You.those.wings.fly.how.hoe?" Sakura pointed and asked.  
  
The guard giggled. "I guess this is your first time in town, eh?" The two nodded furiously. The guard continued. "We Gauliodians know how to fly. We had to adapt to our environment, you know. Look around you. All of our shops and houses are all so tally constructed."  
  
They looked around, he was right. All the buildings were high, ball- shaped houses dangled high in the air by a thin supporting pole. The whole city looked like whole bunch of meatballs on sticks. Some were as high as the Tokyo tower while some were just as short as a two stories building. People didn't use elevators or escalators; they simply flew up to the houses and jump in by the windows.  
  
The guard took them to the hot air balloon rental shop; it was another building high up and had a landing site with a big X on it. An exact copy of Olia came out of the shop beside the landing site to greet them. "Hey! Thank you guard! That'll do!" The guard took a bow, and flopped his wing to go. The girl reached out her hand. "I'm Polia. Sister of Olia." Sakura shook her hand as they got off the balloon. "Nice to meet you, I am Sakura, this is Syaoran, and that's our chocobo, Chocy." Syaoran stepped forward to shook her hand, and asked. "How long will the refill take?"  
  
"Only a minute." Polia said, and began to work right away. She went inside the shop to look for hot air supply. Sakura couldn't help but looked around her. They were standing on a taller building, so she could see very far from where she was standing. The sky was crowded with Gauliodians, some of them were on chocobo backs. [Even the chocobos here can fly.] Sakura thought. [What an amazing city.]  
  
A breeze blew strong. Sakura's hair covered her view, as she brought her hand up to brush it she heard Syaoran cried. "Look out!" Then she felt his weight put on her, and they dived hard on the ground. The breeze suddenly became a strong blew of gust that zoomed on top of them. They turned to look up, and saw a bird that looked almost like Sakura's fly card. The bird was white and as big as a whale. Its wings covered the sky. Despised its size, it flew with incredible speed. The wind it created was as sharp as knifes, people around lost their balance, and were pushed against the buildings by the wind. The bird flew over Sakura and Syaoran's above; its left wing grazed the balloon as it flew by.  
  
Sakura and Syaoran got up when the bird gone far enough. Polia came out cursing. "No! That damned bird! Look what it did!"  
  
They turned to look at the hot air balloon, now flat on the landing site, curled up and rankled as the hot air escaped through the hole that bird created. Polia immediately ran up towards it to see the damage. She picked up the rankly fabric, and sighed. "That stupid bird got the balloon pretty bad. I'll have to fix this."  
  
Sakura stepped up. "What was that?" Polia turned around madly. "Well, it's supposed to be our guardian phoenix. It's job was to so-call protect this city. But it got pretty riled up lately." She looked back at the balloon. "This will take at least three days to repair."  
  
"Three day?" Syaoran exclaimed. "But we're in a hurry."  
  
"I'm sorry, I promise I'll make it up to you. I'll pay for your hotel and all the fees while you're here." She stood up, and waked to the edge of the landing site. "Better yet.why don't you take a look around town since you're here?" She walked scarily close to the edge, Syaoran held up his hand. "Okay! We get it, it's not your fault! Whatever you do, don't jump!"  
  
Polia turned around, looking quizzed. Then she laughed. "Of course I'm not going to jump. Silly you, I'm just here to call my friend." She looked back to the edge, whistled and yelled. "Hey! Luke!"  
  
".Yeah." Sakura and Syaoran could hear a faint sound of a young man answering. Polia kept yelling. "I've got a bit of trouble here, can you come up here, and I'll explain the rest."  
  
Moments later, a young Galiodian flopped up to the landing site like an angel. He hand long, feathery white hair that he tied up behind his back. His wings were as white as snow. He was wearing a sky blue sleeveless shirt and white pants with white boots. Sakura and Syaoran gasped as she saw him.  
  
"Yu.Yukito?" Sakura couldn't help but yelled. The Gauliodian's face looked exactly like Yukito!  
  
"Um.I beg your pardon?" The young Galiodian replied. Sakura blushed and wave her hands in front of her face. "No! I.it's just that you look a lot like a friend I know."  
  
"Really?" He smiled. [He even smiles like Yukito.] Sakura thought, blushing harder.  
  
"Humph." Syaoran made a noise too quite for Sakura to notice. Sakura kept her attention to the Yukito look-a-like. Polia came along, and pushed them onto a flying device that looked like a balcony with wings. "Okay, enough chatting, now Luke. You take good care of them."  
  
"I will." Luke answered. He turned to Sakura, "So what's you name?"  
  
"Sakura." She couldn't help but blush. "Sakura Kinomoto."  
  
"Great. Then who are you friends?"  
  
"Friends?" Sakura turned around, and knew he meant Syaoran and Chocy who were getting on to the flying device. Syaoran looked away madly. "Oh, you must mean them. He's my friend Syaoran and this is our chocobo Chocy. You know, Luke, being with you brings back a lot of memories of me and my friend."  
  
"Great. I'm glad you feel comfortable around me." He flashed him another smile. He pointed to the device. "Why don't you get on it before your friends take of with out you?" Sakura turned around, and ran towards it. "Hey, wait for me." She went on, and said lightly to Syaoran. "Syaoran, don't you think he looks like."  
  
"I heard. You were being so loud." He answered with a grumble. Sakura wasn't too happy about that. "Jeez, what's with you? Why can't you be a bit more gentle?"  
  
"Oh, like Yukito?"  
  
"I didn't say that." Sakura turned away angrily.  
  
"But you were thinking about it." Syaoran's anger grew.  
  
"How could you." Sakura stopped, and then ignored him. Chocy looked from Syaoran to Sakura, not knowing what to do. Luke could feel the tension between the two; he tried to break the ice with his number one warm smile. "Come on, I'll get you to the hotel first to drop off your stuffs." The wings on the device started to flop, they headed off to the hotel. Luke flew beside them. No one said anything throughout the trip. They finally arrived at a big building. Its roof consists of lots of spikes, making it look extra shiny in the sunlight. The entered and dumped their bags in their room and put Chocy in the stable.  
  
"I'll show you around town." Luke said. Sakura walked delightfully to his direction. "Great! I've been dying to look around this unique town." Luke smiled, and his smile diminished as he gazed at Syaoran, who was still grumpy. Syaoran walked into his room, and said. "I'm not going." Luke expected that, more or less. "Are you sure?" He asked hesitantly. Sakura grabbed his hand, and started to drag him away. "Who cares about him? He can be that way. Come on, I want to see the town!"  
  
"O.Okay.we'll bring you back some souvenirs!" Luke yelled as Sakura pulled him away. Sakura added as they step out of sight. "No we won't."  
  
Syaoran sighed. How could he be so stupid? He thought to himself. Being immature wasn't the best plan to have when a rival appeared. He was going to catch them and apologize, but he changed his mind on his way, and leaned on the wall.  
  
That was when he heard a scream of a woman. "Ah! My purse is gone!" Syaoran looked at her as she scrambled through the places she might have left it. He looked at the ceiling, and took off to the kitchen.  
  
~~~~~  
  
"Hehehe.not bad." Jon said as he took out a few jewelries out of a purse. He jumped and yelled as someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned to see Syaoran kneeling beside him. They were both under a large kitchen table covered with tablecloth. They could hear the chefs cooking a preparing food outside the table.  
  
"How'd you know I'm here?" Jon asked surprisingly. Syaoran made a face. "Well, when I heard someone lost a purse, I immediately thought of you." He looked at the purse. "Is that the purse?"  
  
Jon looked at it with a sweat drop on his head. "No, it's my purse. That right. I wear a purse, do you have a problem with that?" He put the purse around his shoulder and posed like a woman. Syaoran grabbed the purse from him, and said flatly. "I'll return that to its rightful owner, thank you." Jon looked disappointed; he wined. "Oh man."  
  
That was when Jon realized Syaoran's alone. "What is Sakura?" He asked. Syaoran looked at him, and then looked away madly saying, "She's got her own stuffs to do." Jon nodded wisely, and said. "Uh-huh. She's going out with another guy, huh?" Syaoran's face turned red, and turned to him sharply, yelling. "She's not going out with another guy!" Jon held up his hand defensively and backed himself up, "Hey, hey. I'm just joking. Even though she isn't going out with him, I believe she's spending some time with him." Syaoran calmed down, and stared at the floor.  
  
"I don't get you guys sometimes." Jon said. Then they remained quiet for a length of time. Finally, Jon said. "The fact is, I found a target for possible missioner." Syaoran looked at him seriously. Jon continued. "The guardian phoenix. It's been really strange lately, but I don't think that's because the bird is having a bad day. Rather than saying it's a mission, I'd like to say it's under someone's control."  
  
"The bracelets!" Syaoran said. Jon nodded. Syaoran went on. "But I thought we destroyed all of them back in P.H.H. city!" Jon kept explaining. "I figured that there were still some left, or it was here before we even went to P.H.H. city."  
  
"Then let's get it!" Syaoran said. Jon looked at him with surprise. "We'll need Sakura. How do you think we can capture the soul if we don't have the Angel Wing crystal?" Syaoran lowered his head, and said quietly. "Right, I forgot." Jon smiled, and put his arm around Syaoran's shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll go get Sakura, and by then you two would've made up like nothing happened."  
  
Syaoran smiled back, it was nice to have a companion. "Thanks." He thanked him gently. Then they heard the chef thundered. "Hey! Someone is hiding under the table!"  
  
"Uh-oh!" They twisted to crawl out of the table.  
  
~~~~~  
  
"Wow~" Sakura exclaimed like a young girl that saw a Mickey Mouse in Disney land as she paid a visit to Gauliodo's most famous water fountains. The fountains were cone shape that floats in the air. Water jumped from one fountains to the other, Sakura laughed as a splash of water landed in the fountain beside her, the water in the fountains shot out again and landed in a fountain far up. "This is fun!" Sakura said to Luke. He was still flying beside her flying device. The water fountain park was big and filled with tourists. Most of them were on flying devices similar to Sakura's.  
  
"What to get something to eat?" Luke said, pointing toward to snack stand on the ground. Sakura smiled. "Sure!" They landed, Sakura jumped out of the device, and started to look at the menu.  
  
Around ten meter away from them was Jon and Syaoran, leaning on a water fountain that floated low. Jon stood out in the open and said. "Alright, let's go get her." Syaoran just stood there; Jon turned back, and asked. "What's wrong?"  
  
"Nothing.you go ahead." Syaoran said, obviously irritated, he looked away. Jon giggled slyly. "Oh, I get it. You're jealous."  
  
Syaoran snapped, and yelled. "No I'm not!" Jon kept on laughing. "Oh, you shy little boy. Come on, I bet she even forgot that she's mad it you. Let's just go up to her, and humbly request her to come with us." Jon moved behind Syaoran and pushed him along. Syaoran went against it. "Quit it! I said no!" Syaoran looked ahead, and saw Sakura laughing like a little girl as she munched down some ice cream. She looked at Luke like the way she always looks at Yukito. She really saw Yukito in him, Syaoran thought. And She must've missed him dearly.  
  
Syaoran watched for another second, signed, then turned around. "Let's just leave her." Jon made a face as he heard him. He crossed his arms, and stared at Syaoran as he urged. "Come on, I told you, she won't be mad."  
  
"It's not that." Syaoran cut him off. Jon's face softened as Syaoran went on. "It's not.that." He lowered his head. The boys stayed quiet for a while. Syaoran sighed, and said. "Jon, do me a favor."  
  
Sakura giggled as she told Luke about her story with Yukito. "And then.my brother called me monster as I entered the room to see Yukito, and then." A near by tourist bumped Sakura lightly on the back. "Sorry." He murmured. Sakura briefly turned around, and said, "It's okay" as the tourist walked out of sight.  
  
The tourist waked back to the Syaoran. He took off his hat and threw it away; it was Jon that bumped into Sakura. "Got it." He said with a flat face as he held up the Angel Wing crystal that he snatched off Sakura's necklace. Syaoran smiled. "Thanks, Jon. I should've known you could do it easily. I mean it's the only thing your good at." He giggled. Jon's face remained flat. "It's not funny. Why did you tell me to do that, Syaoran?"  
  
Syaoran's giggled died down. He looked at him seriously, and said. "So we can go with out her."  
  
"What?" Jon exclaimed. "Why?"  
  
Syaoran remained silence. He started to walk away. "I'll explain later, let's just get out of here before Sakura realized the crystal's missing." Jon didn't say a word as he followed him quietly.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Sakura and Luke were still talking in front of the snack stand. Luke couldn't help but ask. "Tell me.is Syaoran as very close friend of yours?" Sakura blushed a little. But then she got mad remembering they were still fighting, and turned around. "We are just friends, traveling together." Luke giggled. "Really?"  
  
Sakura puffed up her cheeks as she remembered how Syaoran yelled at her back in the hot air balloon rental shop. Luke went on. "You care a lot for him, I can tell." Sakura studied his face, and tilted her head. "What made you say that?" Luke continued. "Well, with out noticing, you've mentioned his name five, six times when you were telling me stories."  
  
Sakura blushed and covered her mouth. "Did I?"  
  
Luke grinned. "And that expression is another reason. Every time you mention him, your face turns red." Luke's grin dimmed a little. "And I can see something else, too. This Yukito person you were talking about. I can tell you care a lot for him, too. But that's another kind of caring. Like the kind of caring you have for a brother. You two must be really close."  
  
Sakura looked at him, and smiled. "You're just like Yukito, so observant." Luke smiled back, and said. "That was how could I tell that you have feelings for Syaoran." Sakura's face turned bright red. "I.I don't!" She yelled. Luke laughed. "You're just saying that because you two are in a fight. So, did you tell him how you feel?"  
  
"He's.so slow." Sakura said madly. That was true, he never quite get what she was talking about when it comes to romance. Luke sighed, and said calmly. "Give it time." Sakura turned back to him, and stared at the fountains thoughtfully.  
  
~~~~~  
  
"Just because he looks like him doesn't mean that he is!" Jon said as Syaoran told him about Luke and Yukito. They were now walking into a dark shrine that led downward. They found a small spiral shaped stairway and thought it might lead to the phoenix's nest since the bird lives under the floating island. No one had ever seen the bird's nest before, Syaoran and Jon walked blindly ahead.  
  
"Well, she misses him a lot, so even if it's not the real him, it's nice to have a little flash back. I still think it's a good idea to stay with him." Syaoran said. Jon suddenly stopped and looked at him. Syaoran didn't realize it at first, then he, too stopped, and turned around to look at Jon. "What?" Syaoran asked.  
  
"This.Yukito." Jon hesitated. "Does she.I mean.does Sakura."  
  
Syaoran nodded, "Yeah. She loves him."  
  
"Like.She loves him like you love her?"  
  
"Probably." Syaoran said; there was sadness to his voice that he was trying to hide. "Actually, I know it is." Syaoran said. He went on, Jon kept asking. "But what about you?"  
  
Syaoran turned around and repeated. "What about me?"  
  
"You.you love her. So.how could she."  
  
"Look, I've known this from the start. I know it would turn out like this." Syaoran said madly. "I know.she never treated me like a lover and she never will."  
  
"Because."  
  
"Because she loves him." Syaoran concluded. He kept walking. For a moment Jon couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had always thought they were a couple. How could this happen? "But," He went on. "But then.why are you doing this at all? If you know.if you know she won't return your feelings."  
  
Syaoran paused. Then said without turning around. "It doesn't matter whether or not I get something in return. I just want to protect her. Even if it means to stand as guard on her wedding day, seeing her marry to someone else. Let's.let's just go, okay?"  
  
Jon walked in disbelieve. [So young.] Jon thought. [And he already made such a mature decision. Oh, Syaoran, you sure have sacrificed a lot for Sakura. If only she feels the same way about you.]  
  
Minutes later, they had arrived at the phoenix's nest. It was at the most bottom part of Gauliodo. The bottom part of the island was constructed with stalactites that hooked up to form short of a half bowl shape nest. At the far end of the nest was a great hole that the stalactites ended and lead to miles and miles of falling. The land slope down quite steeply from the stairway they were standing at. The bird was sleeping noisily. Every breath it took was loud and thundering. Syaoran studied the bird. It was as big as a whale. He wondered how could something this big fly?  
  
It was no time to ask questions. They had got to find the evil bracelet on the bird before it wakes up. They slid down the slope as quietly and gently as they could, and walked around the bird to look for it. Syaoran felt the bird's feather with his hand, it was rough and huge. He jumped up on to the bird, and took a better look. Jon made a face, hand signaling him to be more cautious. Syaoran nodded, and continued to search for the bracelet.  
  
Minutes passed, and they were still searching. "Where could it be?" Syaoran whispered. Jon said grumpily. "Well, if this bird doesn't have so much feather, we'd be done by now." He brushed a feather out of his face as he looked under the ring. Syaoran suddenly got the idea. "Feather." He said to himself. "That's it, it mush be clogged in the feathers!"  
  
Jon sighed. "Great, that would make the job much easier."  
  
"Stop wining and start looking. Remember to dig deep into the feathers see if it's underneath." Syaoran shuffled the feathers he was sitting on. Jon shook his head, and began to work again.  
  
Unfortunately, it wasn't long before the bird woke up. It's bright red eyes opened, noticing the two trespassers right away. It made a high squeal, and flopped its wings wildly. Jon and Syaoran were knocked down on the sloped ground. Syaoran got up, and took out his sword. Jon did the same to the knife tided to his right leg. The bird used its beak to peck them. Syaoran and Jon jumped, one to the right, the other to the left. The ground trembled on every peck. Syaoran waited for his chance, then leaped up on to the bird's head right after it tried to peck him.  
  
The bird flung its head rapidly. Syaoran was barely holding on. He lost grip of the feather on the bird's head. The bird felt it, and arched back suddenly, making Syaoran rolled all the way to its tail. He reached out, trying to grab anything that can be use as a grip. He got hold of a bunch of vanes on its tail feather; it slid a few metres in his hand, then he managed to hold on. He climbed back up as fast as he could, but the bird was rocking back and forth, making the process impossible.  
  
That was when Jon shouted. "Look!" Syaoran followed his gaze: The bracelet was on the feather he was holding on to, hooked to the shaft part of the feather. "Okay," Syaoran said, holding on to the feather with on hand and took out his sword with another. "If I cut this feather off, I might be able to save.wuah!!" The bird was moving again. It flung its tail from left to right. Syaoran tried his best to hold on with only his left hand while his sword was on his other. "If only.it'll stop moving!"  
  
"Just pluck the feather off!" Jon suggested.  
  
"Good idea." Syaoran said. "With my weight, it might come off if the bird make a big jerk. Jon!"  
  
"Right! I'll go provoke it so it'll fling you off like a flea along with the feather and the bracelet!" Jon started to run towards the front of the bird. Syaoran put the sword away, and tried to hang on.  
  
"Hey, bird! Look this way!" Jon waved his hand; the bird turned its attention to him. It made a loud, descending scream, and went forward to peck him. Jon was one step ahead. He took out a signal fire, and threw it at the bird. "Eat this!" The signal fire made a blinding spark, and exploded in the air. It didn't hurt the bird, but it sure did startle it. The bird turned sharply, that did the job, the feather was plucked off along with Syaoran and the bracelet.  
  
Syaoran flew off with the feather in high speed. He hit hard on the side of the curving stalactites; it made a loud bang. Syaoran began to slide down lethargically. He felt dizzy, and he had no energy to get up. Jon called out, trying to wake him. "Syaoran!" Syaoran didn't respond. He kept sliding. Jon ran for him. He jumped over the feather on his way; at the same time, the soul from the bracelet was sucked into the crystal in Jon's pocket.  
  
Jon didn't have time to care. Syaoran was sliding closer and closer to the edged of the curving stalactites. Jon didn't have time to ponder. He jumped as Syaoran rolled off to the edge, grabbed him with his right hand, and held on to the stalactite's tip with the left hand. They were hanging on top an ocean, thousands of feet about. Jon couldn't hold on forever, he yelled. "Syaoran! Get a hold of yourself!"  
  
No respond. He realized Syaoran was unconscious. He tried to get up with one hand, but that was simply impossible with Syaoran in his other hand. His hand was shaking, struggling to go on. Then at the last moment, he failed and let go, falling toward the ocean.  
  
Something bouncy and feathery caught them; Jon opened his eyes to see the phoenix, returned to normal, caught them on its back. "Oh, thank god." Jon mumbled. Just then, he remembered Syaoran. "Dude, you okay?" He turned to see Syaoran, who lay beside him.  
  
Jon turned Syaoran's head gently, and sucked in a cold breath. Half of Syaoran's face was cover in blood. He must have hit his head pretty hard. Jon took off his bandana and wrapped it around Syaoran's head. He held him close in his chest, and said with shaky voice. "Don't you worry pal, we're going to make it. Hang on, Syaoran. Hang on." Then he turned and yelled to the bird. "Come on! This is partly your fault you know! Get him to the hospital!" The giant bird nodded, and flew off.  
  
In Jon's arm, Syaoran mumbled in his sleep. Jon looked down, and said. "It's okay. You're going to be fine. Just stay calm, and sleep if you want to." Tension was in his voice, and he did a bad job covering it. Syaoran groaned, and mumbled again. "Sa.kura."  
  
Syaoran fell silence after that. Jon looked at him unbelievably. "How could you be worrying her in this condition.?" He said softly. Then his eyes were filled with determination as he looked up ahead. "Don't worry, you'll be fine."  
  
~~~~~  
  
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.  
  
Those were the sounds of Jon and Chocy walking around outside Syaoran's door in the hotel. They went around, and around, waiting for Sakura to come home, and trying to find an excuse for Syaoran's injury. "What am I supposed to do? Try not to get Sakura to be worried, that's the least I can do for Syaoran! But how can I hide something like this form her?" Jon complained. Chocy "warked" to his agreement. They've been walking around for half an hour now, and still nothing.  
  
That was when Sakura came up from the stairs. "What are you two doing walking in the hallway?" Sakura asked. Jon and Chocy jerked back. "Sakura!" Jon yelled alertly. Sakura smiled to him. "Hey, Jon. Glad to see you again."  
  
"Huh? Oh, me too." Jon forced a smile. Sakura went ahead, Jon blocked her way nervously. "Whoa! Where do you think you're going? You room is over there!" Jon pointed to the room across from him. Sakura looked at him curiously. "To Syaoran's room." And moved forward again. This time, Chocy came to block her. "Wark!" He shook his head. Sakura looked at him with a puzzled expression. "What?"  
  
"Um.you.can't go in there." Jon said, joining Chocy to block the door.  
  
"Why?" Sakura asked.  
  
"Um.ah."  
  
"Oh no, he's not still mad is he?" Sakura looked sad.  
  
"Mad.?" Jon looked at her.  
  
"Oh, it's so silly. We had an argument this morning."  
  
"Um.that's.it! Yeah. He's mad. In fact," He hooked his arm around Chocy's neck. "We're guarding this room to make sure that you don't go in there, because he ordered us to." Chocy looked at Jon, and nodded nervously. Sakura sighed, she looked sadder now. "He's that mad, huh?"  
  
"Yup, you better believe it." Jon nodded. "He's darn mad."  
  
Tear came out of Sakura's eyes; Jon softened, and so did Chocy. Sakura sobbed, and said. "I knew it. After what I said, he deserves to be mad. How could I be so inconsiderate? I didn't even once thought of how he would feel before I said all those mean stuffs. I just want to say sorry.he probably hates me now."  
  
Serge of guilt rushed through Jon and Chocy's heart. Jon couldn't help but to go forward and pat her on the shoulder. "Don't say that. He doesn't hate you. In fact, that's the last thing he would do. He cares about you, so much that you can't even imagine." He thought of the way Syaoran mumbled her name when he was unconscious. He sighed and went on. "You might not feel the same way about him, but.he does, he truly does care about you."  
  
"But I do." Sakura sobbed. "I do care for him so, so much, even more that I knew. That's why I'm here. But he just couldn't face me anymore."  
  
"Nonsense. He loves having you by his side. He could never think of leaving you." Jon tried to comfort her. "Your feeling is always the first thing he considers, no matter what he does."  
  
"Then.then why doesn't he let me in?" She looked at Jon with watery eyes. Jon sighed. "Oy.okay, okay. You're not going to like this, but.but he's not mad at you. The reason we don't want you to go in.is because of something else." Sakura looked at him, and asked. "What is it?"  
  
Jon shifted, again and again. "Um." Chocy made a low purr, and turned around. Jon continued. "You know.you know what? Maybe it's for the best if you go in and see for yourself." He turned the doorknob, and opened the door for her. The room was dark, Sakura walked in slowly as Jon stayed at the door, trying not to look.  
  
Sakura saw Syaoran lying peacefully on his bed; his head was bandaged. She moved closer, and knelt down beside him. "Sy.Syaoran!" She shook him. "Syaoran! Talk to me!" Jon stopped her. "It's nothing.he's fine. Just a big bump on the head, that's all. The doctor said he'd be fine. Just.don't shake him." Sakura turned around, and asked. "But how? How did it happen?"  
  
So Jon explained. How he'd find out about the phoenix, contacting Syaoran, trying to find her. "And I've got to return this to you, by the way." Jon said as he tossed her the crystal. Sakura looked at the crystal unbelievably. It was gone the whole time and she didn't notice. "He.did this.so that I could be with Luke?" She looked at the crystal. Jon went on. "He said he'd know you'd miss that Yukito guy, and didn't want to disturb you. Anyway, we went to fight the phoenix, and he got hurt. We just came back from the hospital two hours ago. The doctor said he's okay. It' just that."  
  
"Just that what?" Sakura looked up nervously. Jon sighed, and went on. "The doctor said he might suffer from memory lost."  
  
"No.that can't be."Sakura lowered her head. Her eyes were getting watery again. Jon could see that. He got up, and went to the door. "I'll leave you two alone." He closed the door behind him.  
  
Sakura went to Syaoran's bedside, and held on to his hand. Swearing to herself that she would never let go till Syaoran wakes up. She looked at him, and leaned her head on his chest. [Syaoran.I'm sorry.if I'd tell you sooner about my feelings, you wouldn't go through this. You would just come and get me to that phoenix and you wouldn't get hurt.] She brushed his hair, and closed her eyes. [Syaoran.I don't care if you lose your memories, I'll still love you. In fact, that will be the first thing I tell you when you wake up.]  
  
An hour later, Jon came in and saw Sakura fast asleep. Chocy came in, too. He looked at Jon, and Jon patted him on the head. "You know, Chocy, Syaoran kept telling me Sakura loves this Yukito person. But somehow.I doubt that. I can feel it.I can sense it.Sakura loves Syaoran, and he loves her back. I know I'm right Chocy, I just know." Chocy nodded. He couldn't be more agreed.  
  
To be continued... 


	21. The Doctor, Syaoran's Memory, & Sakura's...

Legend of Ometin "I'll fight till the end for the sake of your safety..." Chapter 21 ~~~~~  
  
The sun shone into a hotel window and on to a wounded child's face. The wounded child, Syaoran, was sleeping peacefully. Lying beside him was Sakura, with the top part of her leaning on the bed while her legs rested on the floor. At the corner laid Jon and Chocy, leaning on each other and snoring loudly. All three had fallen asleep the night before while trying to take care of Syaoran. The birds chirped and sang, waking the wounded child. He blinked sleepily, and moaned as he put his hand on his wound. He tried to get up, and woke Sakura with his movement. Sakura helped him once she was waked enough to. "Syaoran! You're awake." Syaoran, still groaning, didn't respond her.  
  
"Syaoran! I was so worried! I thought I'd lose you forever!" Sakura started to sob in his chest. Syaoran emotionlessly stared at her. Sakura looked up to him, and asked nervously. "Are you okay? Do you feel fine?"  
  
Syaoran blinked a few times, and held Sakura's cheek with his right hand. He smiled warmly, "How can I not be fine when I'm in front of such a gorgeous lady?"  
  
Sakura froze, and blinked. "Hoe?"  
  
"Tears don't suit your lovely face. Please, do stop crying." Syaoran wiped her tears with his finger. Sakura blinked again, and stared with disbelieve. "Syaoran...are you okay? Why are you acting like this?" Syaoran smoothed her hair, and replied. "Any man would act awkward in front of you with your charm." Sakura backed up, and gave a little scream. "Ahh!!"  
  
Jon and Chocy bounced up at the same time. "What? What is it?" Sakura turned to them, and pointed to Syaoran with tears in her eyes. "Syaoran woke up and now he's acting all weird!"  
  
"What~?" They both made a face.  
  
"It's true!" Sakura kept pointing. "He's...he's like a lover boy or something!" Syaoran looked at Sakura with dreamy eyes, and commented. "What ever do you mean, angel?" Sakura blinked again, and turned back to Jon and Chocy. "See?"  
  
"Hm...so he is, that's weird..." Jon put his hand to his chin and looked thoughtfully a Syaoran, who still had a smile on his face and eyes fixed on Sakura. "Of course it's weird!" Sakura yelled.  
  
"Maybe it's like a sleeping beauty thing, he'll fall in love with who ever he sees first when he wakes up." Jon joked. Sakura and Chocy fell down on the floor. Sakura got up, and argued. "Jon, he was hit on the head, he didn't eat a poison apple." Jon turned to her and corrected, "No, you're thinking of snow white. Sleeping beauty is the one that got cursed, and..."  
  
"It doesn't matter! What matters is that we need to take him to a psychiatrist right away!" Sakura shouted. Jon just looked at her. "A psychiatrist? What for? He's more lovable than ever; you should like him. He's always calling you pretty; why don't you like that?"  
  
"Jon! That's not it!" Sakura yelled and blushed at the same time. Then came a knock on the door. "Room service." A female voice called. Sakura turned around, and answered. "Um...yes. Coming." She went to open the door. A Gauliodian girl came in with a cart of food. "Here's the breakfast." She said. Sakura looked at her, and said curiously. "We didn't order any, though." The girl smiled, and said. "Ms. Polia told me to give it to you. She already included it in her bill."  
  
"Oh..." Sakura said. "In that case. Thank her for me."  
  
All of the sudden, a hand reached out, and held the Gauliodian girl's hand gently. "It must cost you a lot of trouble bringing all these food up to us. Especially for someone as beautiful and delicate like you." Syaoran said with his hand holding hers. "Here's my thank to you. Consider it a tiny tip." He kissed her hand. The girl retreated a little, blushing. "Oh...thank you. That was...such a lovely tip." She smiled at Syaoran. Syaoran replied. "Not nearly as lovely as you." The girl giggled, and got out of the room.  
  
Sakura, Jon and Chocy were still staring at Syaoran after the girl left. They couldn't believe their eyes. Syaoran turned around, and noticed the frozen crowd. He wave, and asked. "Breakfast, anyone?"  
  
~~~~~  
  
"We're going right this instant!" Sakura said as she pulled Syaoran out of the room, and towards the main exit of the hotel. Syaoran waved to the lady at the counter with a smile. Sakura just pulled harder. Syaoran was forced to go with a jerk. Sakura shouted to Jon who was using the phone book. "Done yet?" Jon stopped flipping and looked up. "So he's more of a pervert than a lover boy that talks love only to you, but still...do you have to do this?"  
  
"Jon! I don't have time for this!"  
  
"Alright! Anyway, I've found three psychiatrist in this area." Jon said. Sakura disentangled Syaoran's arm and ran to meet Jon. "Good, we'll pick one and head to him or her right away!"  
  
"Okay." Jon said, pointing at the names. "This one's just around the corner, it'll be quick." Sakura nodded, "Good, the sooner we get this done, the better." Jon dropped the book, and began to dial at the public phone. "Okay, great. Um...let's see."  
  
After a few seconds conversation, Jon apologized and hung up. "No, he's no good." Sakura exclaimed. "What? Why?"  
  
"He retired last year. Man, this book needs an update."  
  
Sakura waved urgently. "We don't care! Let's just move on." Jon's finger traced the name, and said. "Okay, this one then. Dr. Philips." He read his ad with a whole lot of "blahs", and concluded. "Okay, can't do him. He cost a fortune."  
  
Sakura wined. "JON~!" Jon held up his hand defensively. "Okay! Okay! Hold your horses. I guess that leaves us the last one."  
  
"Who's the last one?" Sakura asked. Hoping this one isn't dead or something. Jon read out. "Dr. Charter. He might be good. His price seems reasonable, and his clinic is not too far away."  
  
"Great! Make an appointment, and we'll go! Syaoran, you'll have to..." Sakura turned around to see nothing but air at the spot Syaoran used to be. "Oh no!"  
  
Syaoran was flirting with a delivery girl who was delivering milk to the hotel. "I'll give you a hand on that." He said as he unloaded the last box from her back. She thanked him. He smiled back, and said. "No need to thanks, it is a gentleman's duty to help such a lovely lady anyway."  
  
The delivery girl blushed. "Oh, what a nice young gentleman you are, then." She turned and was about to flop her wings and leave the hotel. "I'll have to go, see you." Syaoran held her hand and stopped her. "You're not planning to fly all the way back, are you? That's a torture for someone as delicate as you." The delivery girl blinked, and a sweat drop rolled down her head. "Um...I guess..." She scratched her face with her free hand. Syaoran pointed to the flying device, and offered. "Why don't I give you a lift?"  
  
Meanwhile, Sakura was still looking around. Jon pointed to the main door, and shouted. "Look! There he is!" Sakura turned to see. Jon was right; there was Syaoran, helping a Gauliodian girl into their flying device. "Syaoran! No!" Sakura shouted. Before Sakura's voice could reach into Syaoran's ears, he lifted off with the girl.  
  
Jon sighed. "Man, is there anything in his mind beside that girls?" Sakura yelled at him. "Don't just stand there! We have to go get him!!" They rushed towards the main door, and looked up to see Syaoran taking off, chatting with that girl. Sakura had no time to be jealous right now. She would have ran after him but there's nothing blow for another forty feet since the buildings were dangling in the air. She looked around to find another flying device, but saw none. "Jon!" She shouted. Jon turned and ran. "Yeah! I'm on it! I'm on it!"  
  
"I can't believe this!" She headed back into the hotel. "I am trying to help him here, and he ran off with a girl!"  
  
"Yes, Sakura. Calm down." Jon said, looking back at her from the counter. He just asked some for a flying device, and now the employer was scrambling through files for the arrangement. She tapped him on the shoulder for the result. As Jon turned his attention back to her, she reported. "We are out right now, so you'll have to wait for the next one to come back. I'm so sorry." Sakura collapsed on the ground and exclaimed. "Oh, great. What did I do to deserve this?" Jon patted her on the shoulder. "It's not your fault. Look, we'll wait for the next one."  
  
"Syaoran can be on the moon by then!" Sakura yelled sarcastically.  
  
"Well, there's nothing we can do." Jon said, turning towards her. "All we can do is stay put now."  
  
~~~~~  
  
Syaoran waved the delivery girl good-bye as she flew off into the company she works at. Just as Syaoran turned, and was about to head off back to the hotel, he heard sirens of police cars. He turned to see three Galiodian police officers riding high-tech flying devices that looked like spaceships from a sci-fi movie. The sirens were placed on each reflection mirror. It made bright blue and red blinks as they chased a speeder that was riding on another high-tech flying device.  
  
Syaoran's eyes glowed, for the rider was a beautiful young woman. Her flying device looked more like a motorcycle. She zigzagged threw the crowds on the street, and made some sharp turns. Her short hair waved in the air as she increased her speed. The most noticeable thing about her was that she didn't have any wings. She was not a Gauliodian.  
  
Syaoran looked closely. He had decided to help the lovely stranger, and flew off to her direction with the flying device.  
  
He followed her and the police crew behind her and came to a construction site. The area was filled with sand and logs, piled up at a side. Syaoran zoomed ahead of the police, and planned to knock down the logs with his device to stop the cops.  
  
He timed, and headed towards the log pile in full speed. Just as it was going to hit the logs, he jumped off the device, and landed at the back seat of the beautiful speeder. Syaoran's flying device made a loud bang, and knocked down the piles of logs. "What the...?" The speeder turned to see a handsome young man on her back seat. He smiled to her, and said. "I believe you're home free."  
  
The lady blinked, "Huh?" That was when she realized piles and piles of logs were hitting the cops behind her. She grinned in delight. "How'd that happen?"  
  
Syaoran put a finger to his mouth and winked. "Ask questions later. Now let's get out of here before back ups arrive."  
  
The lady smiled, she didn't know what happened or who was this young stranger, but one thing was certain: she likes him already.  
  
~~~~~  
  
It took a while before Sakura and Jon finally got a flying device. They drove it around town to look for the site of Syaoran. Sakura looked at Jon. "Did you make the appointment anyway?"  
  
Jon kept looking. "Yeah, I thought we'd find Syaoran and still have time to get to that appointment. But by the way things are going, I don't see much chance of making it."  
  
Sakura wined. "Well, cancel it then!" Jon looked at her, and shook his head. "Nah, it'll be okay. The psychiatrist wasn't in anyway. I left a message, though. He probably won't be home for our appointment either."  
  
"But it'll still be more polite if we tell him."  
  
"Alright, fine. We can tell him while we're on our way to find Syaoran." Jon looked up again. His saw something, and pointed. "Look."  
  
Sakura followed his gaze. A whole bunch of policemen was surrounding a construction site. Sakura and Jon flew closer to see what was going on. A Gauliodian officer stopped them. "This area is off-limit. Please leave at once." Sakura moved aside and took a closer look. Logs were all over the place. Some officers were holding their head moaning, nothing serious, though. Sakura gasped as she saw Syaoran's flying device on top of the logs. It was crashed badly, and was placed in an angle. She pointed and cried out. "That's Syaoran's!" Jon looked to see that she was right.  
  
The policeman suddenly changed attitude and asked. "You know the owner of this aircraft?"  
  
Jon swallowed. His theft instinct told him that this meant trouble. He asked. "Why'd you asked?"  
  
"The owner of this aircraft interfered with one of our high-speed chases, injured a few of our men, made a mess in this construction site, and worst of all, helped the high-speeder escape." The officer said with a flat tone.  
  
Jon and Sakura froze, and Jon said nervously. "You know what? Now that we look at it more closely, it doesn't look like his..."  
  
"Um...yeah...not his..."  
  
Jon spoke fast. "Anyway, thank you for your time, and we hope you catch that...that...person soon. Bye now!" Jon pushed the button on the flying device and they were off.  
  
Jon sighed as they got to a save distance. "Phew, that was a close one..." Sakura nodded in union. She looked up, and wondered. "How did Syaoran ever get into that much trouble?" Jon stuck up a finger, and said. "There's only one possible explanation." Sakura looked up to him, waiting for him to explain. He went on. "The high-speeder is a girl, and a darn beautiful one, too."  
  
Sakura sighed, and said. "Yeah, that must be it. Anyway, we still have to go and cancel that appointment."  
  
Jon turned the flying device around. "No problem, his clinic should be around here some where."  
  
~~~~~  
  
The out-law took Syaoran home, and invited him in. "What do you want? Tea? Hot cocoa?"  
  
"How about the honor of knowing your name?" Syaoran smiled as he walked into her small but cozy apartment, another one of the houses dangling miles above.  
  
The lady smiled, and said. "The name is Milliana Charter. What's yours, premature kiddo?" Syaoran smiled, and said. "You can call me Romeo if you want to." Milliana laughed. "Okay, seriously now. What's your name?" Syaoran shook his head, and answered. "I don't remember."  
  
Milliana look puzzled. "What? How can you not remember?" Syaoran replied with another smile. "I forgot. As a matter of fact, I don't remember anything. My most ancient memories only go back to the time I woke up from a bed today." Milliana almost drop dead on the floor. "What? That means you had a memory lost. I've never seen people who lost their memories and still act so calm. Usually they'd feel helpless and lonely."  
  
"How can I be lonely, now that I'm with you?" Syaoran said. Milliana ran her hand threw her hair, and sighed. "Oy...seriously, I can't imagine someone who lost their memories to act like you. So you don't even remember your name?" Syaoran thought hard, and said. "Oh! There's this girl that I woke up beside while I was sleeping in the hotel room, she calls me Syaoran."  
  
Milliana stared at him. "You woke up next to a girl in a hotel room?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"You probably got drunk, that's why you didn't remember a thing..." She murmured quietly. "Anyway, we'll assume Syaoran's your name." She headed to the living room to check her machine. She pressed the button, and turned around as the mechanical voice of her machine gave out instructions. She said to Syaoran. "Well, maybe I can give you some check up. I'm kinda in this field..."  
  
The machine beeped, and said in a mechanical voice. "You have two new messages." The machine beeped again, and out came Jon's voice. "Um...am I on? Oh, yeah, um...this is...this is Jon. Um...ah...I'd like to make an appointment, at...um...let's see, what time is it?" After a moment, his voice came back. "Oh, four. I mean..." The machine beeped, and went dead. After a few seconds, the machine beeped again, and his voice came back on. "Hi, um, sorry, machine cut me off. Ah...I'd like to make an appointment at five, yeah. Thanks." Once again, the machine beeped, and said in a mechanical voice. "End of messages."  
  
Milliana sighed, and said. "What a geek." Syaoran was trying to concentrate. He heard that voice somewhere before, but where?  
  
"Are you listening?" Milliana asked. Syaoran snapped back to reality. "Huh? Oh, sorry."  
  
She sighed, and repeated. "I said, I'll give you a therapy right now, just get on the chair, and..." Just then, her doorbell rang. Milliana sighed and went to get it, Syaoran followed. She kept talking as she open the door. "As I was saying, I think I can bring your memory back..."  
  
"Syaoran!" A voice yelled from the door, Milliana and Syaoran turned to see a girl and a young man standing at the door. Sakura repeated. "Syaoran!" Jon looked at Milliana and said. "Doctor Charter?"  
  
Syaoran saw Sakura and exclaimed. "Angel!" Milliana's face remained flat, and said to Jon. "Geek."  
  
~~~~~  
  
After the unexpected union, the group gathered in the living room for tea as Sakura examined Syaoran's wound. "Do you feel fine?" she asked with a caring voice. Syaoran took her hand, and replied. "More than fine, now that I'm with you." A sweat drop rolled down her head, and she sat down beside him; that was normal enough.  
  
Jon was blabbing to the doctor. "So that was what happened, and I hope that you can help him." Milliana was getting bored, she wave her hand, and sipped her tea. "Okay, calm down. I already know that, you've only mentioned it three times. I was going to help him anyway. Can't you give it a rest?"  
  
"I was simply trying to provide you with as much information as possible." Jon said, sitting across from her.  
  
"Whatever. I can handle this, all right? Man, you really are a geek."  
  
"Don't say that! God, I don't know how you get your diploma at the first place! Anyone with a high education degree can see that I'm so much higher than a geek!"  
  
To prove his stupidity, Milliana played the tape again: "Um...am I on?"  
  
Jon blushed, and jumped forward to press the stop button. "And stop doing that!"  
  
"Can you please," Sakura begged. "Please, give Syaoran his therapy now? I want him to get well as soon as possible."  
  
Milliana looked into the young girl's eyes. She was touched. [The little girl must be worried sick when he was with me.] Milliana thought. She closed her eyes, and said with a smile. "Alright. I'll do it."  
  
Sakura gave a faint grin.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Syaoran lied on a long, soft chair that was almost completely flat. His head slightly titled up. Sakura sat on a stool beside him, smiling at him once in a while to make sure he wouldn't get nervous. Jon was at a far corner, Milliana wanted to make sure he wouldn't get in the way. Milliana sat on a chair. She told Syaoran to take a few deep breaths, and calm down. She began to ask him questions. Unfortunately, Syaoran never really answer her with out complimenting on her beauty and her charm. She shook her head. This wasn't working.  
  
"Maybe if I hit him on the head again, he'll come to it." She joked. "A baseball bat might do the job."  
  
"Try a hockey stick." Jon suggested, obviously bored almost to death.  
  
"No!" Sakura shouted. Milliana giggled. "We were only kidding. But to tell you the truth, we're going nowhere."  
  
Sakura looked disappointed. She wasn't ready to give up just yet. "Can we do it again later?"  
  
Milliana looked at the desperate girl, and nodded. "Okay. First, let's have dinner." Jon got up from the chair and offered. "I'm gonna help!" Milliana made a face as she got into the kitchen with Jon, "Okay, but I really don't trust a geek can cook with out burning himself once or twice." Jon grumbled. "Hey!"  
  
Sakura looked at the two of them, and smiled to herself. She turned her attention back to Syaoran, who was still lying there. She took his hand, and said gently. "Syaoran..." Syaoran sat up and face her. His face filled with curiosity. Sakura went on. "Why don't you and I go out to the balcony while they are preparing dinner?"  
  
Syaoran took both of her hands; his eyes glowed. "I'll go anywhere with you." Sakura sighed as a sweat drop rolled down her face. [I should've figured...]  
  
They stepped out into the starlight. Sakura leaned her head on the handles, and looked peacefully at the stars. She sighed, and then she felt a blanket covering her shoulder. She turned, and saw Syaoran, tugging the blankets into her collar. "Wouldn't want a lovely lady like you to catch a cold now, would we?" Sakura's eyes glittered. She nodded, and thanked him. She knew something wouldn't change; even Syaoran had lost his memories, he was still as gentle as ever.  
  
Sakura tighten her grip on the blanket, and swallowed hard. "Syaoran...?" Syaoran smiled and answered. "Yes?"  
  
"You know...this is all my fault. You are like this because of me." Sakura couldn't face him. She felt so guilty. "I was the one to blame. If only I came with you and Jon to fight that phoenix. If only...if only I've told you sooner..."  
  
Syaoran took her hand, and brought it close to him. "Don't blame yourself. Even though I can't remember, I'm sure I did this without any regret."  
  
Sakura looked at him, and said tearfully as she began. "You don't understand, I...Syaoran, there's something I need to tell you. Something I should've told you a long time ago. Something I swore to myself last night that I must...do it."  
  
"What is it?" Syaoran asked.  
  
Sakura's heart was beating faster than ever. She dried her tears, and looked up. Taking a deep breath, she confessed. "I love you."  
  
Syaoran was surprised by the words. A soft breeze blew by, and her silky hair covered half of her face as she lowered her hand, too embarrasses to see his reaction.  
  
Finally, she looked up, longing for the respond. Her heart wouldn't slow down. Blood gather around her head, she couldn't think. They stared at each other for a while. Then Syaoran opened his mouth. "I..."  
  
Sakura waited. Syaoran seemed to be acting kind of awkward. "I...I mean..." He hesitated. Then continued. "Don't I know this already?"  
  
Sakura stared. She couldn't believe this was her respond. She had prepare for "I love you, too." Or "Sorry, I'm seeing someone else." But certainly not "I knew it already." She shook her head, and looked straight into his eyes. "No, I just told you!"  
  
"Oh." Syaoran said. "It's just that I thought it was kind of obvious. I mean, the way we've been...interacting."  
  
"What do you mean?" Sakura said, raising her voice.  
  
"I mean, anyone can tell. Are you sure I had absolutely no idea about this before I lost my memories?"  
  
"I certainly hope not!" Sakura yelled, blushing furiously. [Oh my god!] She thought to herself. [What if he's right? What if he did know all these time?] She covered her head in her hands. "This isn't fair! It was supposed to be a romantic love confession. Oh, I'm ruined!"  
  
Syaoran giggled, and put her into his arms. "Okay, now. Don't over react." His laughter filled her ears. She cooled down and rest in his chest. He continued. "By what you told me, I think I was a pretty slow person, and I don't think I knew yet. Anyway, thank you for the love confession. It was romantic alright." He pulled her out, and looked straight into her eyes with passion. "You know what? I'm very sure that my answer would be 'I love you, too'. With or without my memories."  
  
Sakura blushed. Syaoran drew her into his arms again. She snuggled, and said. "I bet you say that to every girl." Syaoran laughed, and soothed her back. "Only to you, my love. Only to you."  
  
Just as the lovers were tangled in each other's arms, they heard the siren of police hovercrafts. They looked up to see smoke coming out of some building up ahead. What shocked them the most was not the fire, but a giant bird that breaths fire. "What the..." Syaoran said.  
  
Moments later, Jon rushed out of the balcony, and scream. "Man! I thought that bird is back to normal! I hate it! I hate it, I hate it, I hate it!"  
  
"What? What are you talking about?" Milliana came out of the balcony, too. She saw the bird, and said. "What do you mean, back to normal?"  
  
"We turned your stupid guardian phoenix back to normal, and now it's at it again!" Jon pointed and said. Milliana narrowed her eyes, and looked. She shook her head. "No, that's not our guardian phoenix." Jon exclaimed. "What? Then what is that??" She looked, and said. "I don't know...I've never seen it before..."  
  
At the direction of the fire, an illusion appeared; it became a young man with white hair. It was a magnified image of a missioner. He spoke. "Legendary heroes, I know you're here. Don't hide yourselves. If you don't want me to turn this town into flames of fire, you better follow the firebird and head to its nest." The illusion disappeared as he finished.  
  
Sakura and Syaoran watched in fear as the big firebird flew above them. Milliana was right. It was not the phoenix. It flew to the direction of the nest and flopped out of sight.  
  
"We'd have to get there!" Sakura yelled. Syaoran held her hand. "What for? He asked for the legendary heroes!" Sakura looked back, and yelled. "Don't you get it, Syaoran? We're the legendary heroes!!" Syaoran made a face, and exclaimed. "Oy...I definitely don't remember getting myself into this..."  
  
"You're the...what?" Milliana looked at them, shocked. Sakura turned to her, and begged. "I'm sorry for hiding this from you, but you'll have to take us to the nest!"  
  
Milliana gazed at her. She saw a new side in the little lover. Milliana closed her eyes, and smiled. "Alright. Get into my flying motorcycle. I'll catch up to the bird in no time. After all, I do have the town's fastest flying device."  
  
"Thanks!" Sakura was grateful to her agreement. Jon stepped up, and said. "I'm coming, too!" Milliana held up a finger, and said. "No, it can hold up to three people only. You can fly with your flying device." Jon wined, but they'd already rushed out to get on the flying motorcycle.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Like Milliana said, she did have the fastest flying device in town. With in ten seconds, they've already lost sight of Jon, who fell way behind on his flying device he and Sakura came with. Milliana's driving skill was unbelievable. She zoomed by people that was only an inch away from them, and can still stay calm as if they were on a freeway with no cars.  
  
In no more than five minutes, they were out of the urban area and were zooming in the forest. They saw the bird up ahead; it flew over a high mountain peek and settled on the top. The mountain looked like an inactive volcano. The birds settled there as a person flew up with a flying device strapped to his back and pats it on the head. He turned, and saw the company. Sakura recognized him right away. He was the person in the illusion.  
  
"Well," He said. "You made it. But why are there three of you?"  
  
"I'm just their driver." Milliana said. She stared at him. He had eyes as cold as ice; she didn't like him one bit.  
  
Sakura took out her fly card, released her key, and commended. "Fly!" The wings spread behind her back and she flopped toward the missioner. Syaoran reached out, and cried. "What about me?" Sakura turned around, and said determinedly. "You stay here with Dr. Charter."  
  
Syaoran struggled. "No, you can't go alone!"  
  
Sakura smiled, and nodded. "I'll be fine. I promise." She flew off. Syaoran yelled. "Sakura!!"  
  
The missioner gazed at his enemy and cracked a laugh out of pity. "I can't believe you're just a little girl. I don't know how you ever mange to come this far."  
  
"Quiet!" Sakura said. "Now, answer my question: how'd you know we're in Gauliodo?"  
  
"I'm the one who planted the bracelet on the phoenix's tail. When I saw it turn back to normal, I know you people are still around here somewhere. Humph, I knew that phoenix is no good. Compare to my specimens, it's just another defenseless pigeon. The specimens I breed are far more dangerous and tough."  
  
"Breed?" Sakura asked in shock.  
  
"That's right. I breed specimens, then I send them off to different parts of the world to have you killed."  
  
"That means...the whale in Sand Village, the beast we saw in the Lost Wood...they were all specimens bred by you?"  
  
"Right. I am Elixan, the only beast breeder in the missioner's clan. I bred the beasts, fed them, and trained them to be vicious killing machines. I see that you've already killed most of my work, but not this time. The firebird I've prepared specially for you is a one and only ultimate beast that is immortal. Today shall be the end of you!" Elixan pointed to Sakura, and the firebird charged towards her. It was fast, too fast. Sakura managed to get away; she flew to her left. The gust created by the firebird as it whooshed by her blew Sakura away. She halted to a stop, and see the bird was prepared to make another attack. She took her card out, and cast. "Shoot!" Bullets came flying out of her card. They bounced off the bird like water droplets. The firebird opened its mouth, and was about to hit her when she held her staff to her face and prepared for a direct hit.  
  
Syaoran shouted loudly. "SAKURA, NO!"  
  
Boom!  
  
The sound of impact echoed in the air. Sakura still had her staff to her face; she felt no pain. Slowly, she opened her eyes. At first, she just saw shiny feathers; but as her eyes started to adjust, she saw a gigantic bird in front of her. It took her hit.  
  
"The phoenix!" Milliana exclaimed. The majestic bird shone in the air like a god. It squealed at the firebird, and the firebird squealed back. Within moments, they were battling each other. To the eyes of others, they only see two beams that circled the sky. Elixan was amazed. He shouted, "Come on, my specimen! You can defeat the silly pigeon! You are the strong one!"  
  
Sakura took out her freeze card, and yelled. "You don't have time to cheer for your team. Freeze!" The card attacked him, but he managed to dodge. "Don't you worry," He said, "I didn't forget about you!" His flying device on his back accelerate, he took out a knife, and swung. Sakura called on the Shield card, and it protected her. Elixan kept banging the magic shield with his knife. "Come on, why are you hiding?"  
  
"I've had enough!" Syaoran said as he jumped off the flying motorcycle on the air above Sakura and Elixan. Milliana shouted. "Syaoran! Are you crazy?"  
  
Syaoran landed on Elixan's back. He took Elixan's hand, and managed to hold him back for a while. Sakura gasped. "Syaoran! No!" Syaoran wrapped his free arm around Elixan's neck. "What kind of monster are you? Using a knife to fight an honorable lady!" Elixan choked a little. "Ha! Don't make me laugh." He took Syaoran's shirt, and pulled him down. Syaoran managed to grabbed on to Elixan's arm before he let go. Elixan fought hard to lose him. "Let me go, you imbecile!" They snapped apart as he pulled hard. Syaoran fell straight down. Milliana managed to come around and caught him on her motorcycle. Syaoran landed hard on the seat. "Ow!" he moaned. "That hurt!" Milliana heard him, and joked, "You would've hurt a lot more if you made it all the way to the bottom."  
  
Syaoran thanked her. "Well, thanks for breaking my fall. Now can we go back up to him? I'm not through with him, yet."  
  
Milliana laughed. "Don't be silly, what if you jump off again?"  
  
"If you don't want me to jump off, then drive this thing as I command, so I can take him on while riding."  
  
She flew up. "Fine, you're the boss."  
  
Elixan was just straightening himself up as Syaoran gave him a sucker punch from behind. Syaoran whistle, "That felt good! Circle around, Milliana, I want to do it again!" Milliana laughed. "Come on, no one gets sucker punch twice in a roll. They're too smart for another round."  
  
Elixan flew back a little because of the punch. That was when Sakura saw his tattoo. "Syaoran! The side of his face that's covered by his hair! Hit him there! That's his weakness." She avoided using the word "tattoo", knowing that Syaoran wouldn't remember what that had to do with the missioner.  
  
Syaoran and Milliana got the cue, and charged towards Elixan. Elixan gathered an energy ball, "Why you...I wouldn't let you live..." Sakura saw it and warned. "Syaoran! He's going to use magic!"  
  
Milliana accelerated. Elixan finished gathering energy; he aimed for Syaoran's head as Syaoran came up to him directly. Syaoran tilted to his right, and the energy ball grazed by his left ear as he punched Elixan on the face with his fist. He hit him right on the spot, and Elixan vanished in the air. Sakura came to gather his soul; this battle was over.  
  
But the battle on the other side was still going on. The phoenix and the firebird were still holding up. They'd decided to finish it quick. Both of them gathered heat in their mouth, and were going to use their fire attack. The firebird finished first, and blasted fire. The phoenix avoided it with no problem. It gave off its blast, too. The firebird burnt in flame, and disappeared as its soul flew off to Sakura's crystal.  
  
The phoenix turned around, and looked at Sakura and Syaoran thankfully. It gave out a beam of light. The light gathered and became a shiny crystal; it landed in Sakura's opening palm as the bird flew off. Sakura looked at the crystal with surprise. "This is..."  
  
"It's the Crystal of Wind." Milliana said. Sakura turned around, Milliana continued. "The legend says that one of our phoenix's roll was to assist the legendary heroes in their journey, and by that it must grant them the Crystal of Wind, a magical stone that is protected by our guardian phoenix. The stone is bound to assist you in your journey."  
  
"It's just like the one we received in Sami city. Syaoran, look..." She stopped, and gasped. "Syaoran! You're bleeding."  
  
Syaoran touched the part of his head the energy ball gazed by. He didn't notice it, but his hand was soaked with blood right away. "Oh...you're right. The energy ball must have got me after all..." He didn't finish his sentence. He passed out, and the two girls screamed. "Syaoran!!"  
  
They lied him down on the firebird's nest on the top of the volcano. It was filled with straws the firebird collected, so it was soft, and provided a bed for the wounded child. "Syaoran!" Sakura shook him; Milliana stopped her. "It's okay. It just grazed by his head. He'll be fine." She took out a handkerchief and began to dry his blood. Moments later, he came to. "Sakura...?"  
  
Sakura sighed. Relieved, she hugged him. "Oh, Syaoran. You scared me!" He looked dual. "What happened...? Where's the phoenix?"  
  
Sakura let go of him, and smiled. "It's okay. It flew away, that's all."  
  
"Jon..." He said. "What about Jon? He was there with me!"  
  
The two girl looked puzzle. "Jon? What are you talking about?"  
  
"Jon, he and I went to find the phoenix and we tried to take off its bracelet! What happened to him?"  
  
Sakura looked at him with amazement. "Syaoran...does that mean..." Milliana continued for her. "You regained your memories?"  
  
"What on earth are you talking about?" Syaoran said. "And who are you?" He looked at Milliana. Sakura looked at him and said. "You must've forgot all the things that happened when you lost your memories. Oh, Syaoran!" She hugged him again. "I'm so glad that you're back to normal!"  
  
"Wha...what?" He looked confused. Then again, there's no reason why he shouldn't be. He just regained his memories, and forgot the events that had happened during his memory lost. Milliana shook her head. "It doesn't matter. The thing is that you're safe."  
  
Sakura nodded. "She's right. Let's go home." They got up and were about to go when a sound came out from the corner.  
  
"Chirp."  
  
The trios looked around. At a dark corner of the nest, they could see movements. They walked closer to get a better look. Then they heard it again. "Chirp, chirp."  
  
"Aw..." Sakura said. At the corner of the nest lied three infant birds about the size of an adult fist. They all have big shiny eyes, and what's worst - a tattoo on their tummy. Sakura and Millana gasped. Milliana swallowed. "It must be that firebird's babies."  
  
Sakura walked closer. They all look so innocent, so helpless. She bend down and picked one of them up. "What do we do?"  
  
Syaoran suggested. "Bring them back, of course, they'll die here!"  
  
Milliana argued. "I'd say leave them here. If they don't die, they'll grow up to be like that vicious firebird!"  
  
"But..." Sakura looked at the three creatures. They chirped quietly, longing for their mother. What they didn't know was that she would never return to them again.  
  
To be continued...  
  
~~~~~  
  
Author's note:  
  
Thank you all very much for supporting "The Legend of Ometin"! I am very touched by you people's enthusiasm towards this fanfic! I promise to work harder on it! On another topic, some of you are writing to give me ideas for the story. What I have to say is that I appreciate your support, but by law, it is illegal for any authors to use ideas given by their fans. So writing in to give me ideas would only make it so that I can't use those ideas even if I thought of the same thing myself. Therefore please don't try to give me ideas for my story!  
  
Thanks again for reading! See you next time! ^(oo)^ 


	22. The Birds, Chocy, & Sakura's Confession ...

"I'll fight till the end for the sake of your safety..."  
  
CCS: The Legend of Ometin  
  
Chapter 22 ~~~~~  
  
The air was cool and moist; Syaoran's eyelids twitched a little as he slept. [Who...are you?] He saw a figure in front of him, a figure with long hair and wide shoulders. He reached out, and touched Syaoran's face. Syaoran tried to resist, but had no strength to do so. The figure smoothed Syaoran's hair, he whispered.  
  
"Soon..."  
  
Syaoran moaned; his eyes opened slowly. His vision adjusted, and saw an angel in front of him. "Sakura..." He said lazily. She smiled. "You're awake." He sat up, and realized that he had fallen asleep on her lap. He blushed. "I'm sorry...I didn't mean to doze off." Sakura smiled again, "It's okay. Does you wound still hurt?"  
  
He reached back and touched it. "A little." He responded. Sakura looked worried. "Do you think it's time to change your bandage again?"  
  
He shook his head. "No, it's fine." Sakura frowned, and sat back a little. He went on. "Really, I am." She leaned towards him, and observed. She gave a satisfying smile, and nodded. "Okay, but don't stress yourself."  
  
Syaoran felt kind of guilty. Ever since he was hurt by the phoenix, Sakura had been very protective. She treated him like a little child; she'd even feed him if he let her. He looked around; they were around small hills with tall grass at the side of the road. Chocy was still sleeping not too far away from them. Beside him slept three little infant firebirds that Sakura and Syaoran decided to keep while they were back in Gauliodo.  
  
After they decided to keep the birds, they left Milliana and Jon and headed off to the hot air balloon rental. But the time they got their, it was already fixed; so they took the hot air balloon, and continued their journey. Sakura didn't mention a word about her confession after they left. She had thought about her confession before, and was afraid to do it again. She was not going to be ready until sometime later. Besides, the thought that Syaoran knew about her feelings really scared her. She wasn't going to make a fool out of herself twice.  
  
At the same time, Chocy was waking up from his nap. He yawned and stretched, waking the little birds beside him. He looked at the little birds, and the little birds looked back at him. He raised a brow at them. They chirped. He got up; they got up. He walked; they walked. [Okay,] Chocy thought. [This is getting annoying.]  
  
Sakura walked towards them with an "aw". She giggled. "They like you, Chocy. They probably think you're their dad." Chocy was kind of disgusted by the idea. He stared at the adorable little creatures; to him, they were just annoying little pests that followed him around.  
  
Syaoran joined them. "Come to think of it, these little fellows still need their names." He knelt down, and one of the birds jumped up to his lap. He patted the infant's head. Sakura said delightedly. "That's right! Let's pick some names for them! Something cute...something that suits them."  
  
Syaoran put his finger to his chin and studied the little creature. "Let's see..." He said. "The only way we can even tell them apart is by the colour of the feather on their head. So let's start there." Sakura turned around, and agreed. "Good idea!" She looked back at the birds, and observed. "Let's see...this one's feather is blue, so let's call you...hm...blue starts with a B, so how about Bi Bi?"  
  
"And I'm guessing the green one's going to be named Gi Gi?" Syaoran fooled around with the baby firebird. The infant chirped with delight. Sakura smiled, "Yup! And the last one is the red on...but Ri Ri don't sound nice at all..."  
  
Syaoran put the bird with red feather on his lap, "I know, George."  
  
Sakura eyed him. "Bi Bi, Gi Gi and George?" Syaoran looked up, and asked. "What's wrong with that?" A sweat drop rolled down Sakura's head, "Where one earth did you get that name?" Syaoran scratched his head, and smiled. "Don't know; it just popped up." Sakura fell down.  
  
She got up and picked the little one from his lap. "Be serious!" Syaoran laughed, he nodded. "Alright, alright. Hm...you know that colour is really more of a maroon..." Sakura looked at him with satisfaction. "Mi Mi! That's perfect! Oh, Syaoran, you're so smart!" She stood up, and lifted the little bird high. "Bi Bi, Gi Gi and Mi Mi...this is so great!" The little bird chirped and cheered.  
  
~~~~~  
  
They traveled for another mile or so, and encountered a stream. Sakura thought that this is the perfect place to wash Syaoran's wound. Although Syaoran protested a little, he gave in, and let her wash his head like a baby.  
  
Meanwhile. Chocy found a place behind the bushes, and started to look into the backpack. [I know it's in here somewhere...] He shoved and searched. At last, he found a little nut in the corner of the backpack. [Here it is!] He thought. [It's my favorite nut that I saved ever since last week! This is the perfect time to enjoy it!] He licked his beak, and opened his mouth to get ready to eat and swallow.  
  
At the same time, Mi Mi hopped behind the bushes, and saw Chocy's beak, wide open, getting ready to eat a delicious looking thing that he's holding with its wings. Mi Mi chirped happily, and jumped to grab the nut out of Chocy's wings. Chocy bit, and missed. He looked up, and saw Mi Mi, Bi Bi and Gi Gi, all pecking his favorite nut into pieces, and swallowing them one by one.  
  
Chocy shrieked. He dove for the last crump of the nut, but Gi Gi swallowed it, and all three bounced away as Chocy landed on the rock hard ground headfirst. The three birds chirped to their delight, and began hopping away. Chocy got up with fury. As he determined to seek revenge, he chased the little birds out of the bushes, slashing his wings madly on his way. He froze when he got out of the bushes, for there stood Sakura and Syaoran with the birds in their hands, looking at him madly.  
  
"How dare you Chocy?" Sakura said. "How can you pick on the little ones?"  
  
Chocy flopped its wings wildly while trying to explain in chocobo language, but they just won't understand. "Wark~! Wark~!"  
  
Syaoran put up his index finger. "Oh no, Chocy. You're the big boy here, you're suppose to take care of the little ones, not try to kill them." Sakura nodded and agreed. "That's right."  
  
Chocy cracked like a stone. [It was all their fault,] he thought, [not mine...how can they be so harsh on me~?]  
  
Sakura patted Bi Bi on the head. "Are you okay? Poor thing...you must be scared..." Sakura smoothed its feather gently. Chocy glared, and a vein popped up on his head. Syaoran rocked Mi Mi and Gi Gi in his arms, and started to walk away. "Okay...let's go eat so Chocy won't scare you guys anymore." Another vein popped up on Chocy's head. He glared hard, thinking. [I have no problem believing they're the devil's children...]  
  
~~~~~  
  
Sakura and Syaoran fed the little birds as they sat near the river. Thinking the birds definitely don't need feeding, since they stole his food, Chocy stomped far enough to keep his ears out of the little bird's annoying chirpings and took a nap under a tree. Sakura turned around, and saw him grumbled as he slept. She tilted her head, and pulled on Syaoran's shirt. "Syaoran, do you think Chocy's been acting weird?"  
  
Syaoran nodded. Mi Mi was not satisfied with the spoon that stopped putting food into her mouth, and it pecked on the spoon with its little beak. Syaoran went on, looking at Chocy and ignoring the little protest Mi Mi was putting up with. "I don't know; he's like mad at the birds or something. He's usually very lovable." Sakura turned to face Syaoran. "He's been like this since we got the little birds."  
  
Syaoran rose an eyebrow, and thought. He made a conclusion. "Is he jealous?" Sakura looked at Chocy, and put a finger to her chin. "Could be. We've been ignoring him, trying to take care of the birds."  
  
Chocy groan drowsily. Sakura tilted her head, and wondered. "Hoe..."  
  
~~~~~  
  
[No...Sakura...Syaoran...don't leave me...] Chocy ran in darkness, black holes surrounded him. He kept running, but he could never reach Sakura and Syaoran. They were so close, yet so far. They were drifting, farther and farther away from him. He tripped, and stopped. [No...don't leave me...]  
  
A familiar sound rang his ears. He looked up, and saw a detestable image. Sakura and Syaoran were playing with Bi Bi, Mi Mi, and Gi Gi. They were giggling happily. Sakura fooled around with them and said. "He he...you guys are so cute." Syaoran laughed and agreed. "Yeah, much cuter than Chocy." Sakura continued, "True, he doesn't do much either than sleep and eat. You guys are much better pets than he is."  
  
Chocy's heart crush, he gave out a loud squeal. [NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...]  
  
Thump! Thump!  
  
Chocy's eyes flashed open. [Phew...it was just a dream...] As he sighed, he looked up to see what woke him. To his surprise, it was Jon with a big bad of stuffs; he just rolled off the hill and landed on Chocy. "Oh, hey Chocy. Thank you for breaking my fall." Chocy turned his head away, and made an annoyed sound. Thinking, [Just get the heck off of me first.]  
  
"What the heck are you doing?" Sakura said as she came to Jon with Syaoran by her side. Jon stood up, and dusted his shirt. "Oh, I just happened to pass by." Syaoran went ahead and examined his bag. "You were stealing again, weren't you? I bet you were being chased, and slipped down the hill." Jon forced a laugh. "Why, whatever made you say that." He played dumb as a sweat drop rolled down his head.  
  
They all sat down as Chocy continued his nap under the shady area. Sakura kept on playing with the birds; Syaoran and Jon leaned against a tree and talked. They were far enough from Sakura so she couldn't hear what they were saying. Jon sat down, putting his hand to his chin, and eyed Chocy. "What's wrong with that dude?" Syaoran scratched his head, and answered. "Jealous. At least that's what we think. It's whether that or it's mating season." Jon's hand slipped, and his chin hit his chest. He looked up, and said exaggeratedly. "What?" Syaoran waved his hand. "Forget about the mate thing, it's definitely jealousy."  
  
Jon kept his eyes on him. "Jealous of who?" Syaoran pointed to Sakura and the birds. Jon stared at them; he looked back at Syaoran. "Sakura's beauty?" Syaoran slowly raise his fist without expression, and smacked Jon on the head. "The birds." Jon rubbed his head, and looked back at Sakura's direction. "Oh, he's jealous of their beauty." Syaoran smacked again. "No, he's jealous because he thinks we're ignoring him. He thinks we care about the birds more than him."  
  
Jon sighed. "Ah...that can be tricky. Remember when you lost your memories and hit on girls. Sakura must have felt the same way." Syaoran looked and Jon, and asked. "Huh?" Jon looked up, and said. "Oh, that's right, you don't remember." He turned, and waved. "Never mind. It'd be good if you remember the balcony part, though. Hehehe..." He laughed to himself.  
  
"The balcony...?" Syaoran thought, and yelled. "Oh god, no! Jon, you were there!?"  
  
"Oops." Jon covered his mouth. He smiled, and tried to back up. "Well, you don't really expect me to miss it, come on, do you really think I can make dinner when I said I'd help out with Milliana? By the way, it was her idea mostly."  
  
"Oh, no! She was there too?" He grabbed on to Jon's collar and started shaking. "Jon! How could you spy on us like that? I'm going to kill you!!"  
  
"Hey...hey take it easy..." He smiled. Then his smile vanished. He looked at Syaoran seriously, and asked. "Hey...wait a minute, I thought you don't remember."  
  
"Well..." Syaoran blushed and let go of his collar. "I didn't. But after a good night of sleep, it all started to come back to me. Dr. Charter, the fight with Elixan..."  
  
"Hitting on girls, getting in trouble with the police." Jon continued for him. Syaoran blushed, and eyed him madly. "Yes, Jon. Those, too."  
  
"But the most important thing is..." Jon looked at him, and swallowed. "You remember her confession, don't you?" Syaoran sighed, blushed, and nodded. "I...I don't know how to tell her. She once said she's scared of the thought that I know already. And I do know. This is not good..."  
  
"Oh come on~!" Jon slapped his back. "Aren't you happy that she loves you back? Show a little spirit!"  
  
"Well, I am! It's just...I don't know what to do."  
  
"You can wait till she tells you again and pretend nothing happened."  
  
"I'm not sure I can hold that long. She might suspect something. Man oh man is she going to be mad when she finds out I remembered." Syaoran rubbed his forehead.  
  
"Or, there's another way to solve this."  
  
Syaoran turned to face Jon, and paid extra attention. "What?" he asked. Jon went on. "You can always confess your love to her first." Syaoran fell back, and started to blush. "WHAT~!?" Jon put his elbow on Syaoran's shoulder and leaned on him. "It's only fair. She told you once already, now it's your turn." Syaoran said defensively. "Jon, we're not playing tag." Jon held up his index finger. "Hey, she's a girl, and she already got the courage to do it. You're a guy, by the rule, you should've told her first."  
  
"But...but..." Syaoran couldn't think. Deep in, he knew Jon was right. Jon put his hands on his shoulder. "No buts. Now are you a coward or are you a lover boy?" Syaoran screamed. "I'm neither!" Jon fanned his hand. "Okay, bad impression. But you get the point."  
  
"What are you two talking about?" Sakura appeared behind Syaoran; Syaoran jumped, and looked back. "How long have you been here?" He asked nervously. Sakura tilted her head, and answered. "Since 'I'm neither'." Syaoran sighed. [Good, then she didn't hear much.] Sakura smiled brightly, and said. "You guys were talking so lively, that I've decided to join."  
  
Jon stretched and pretended to yawn. "Oh, my, look at the time. It's time for my nap! Let's all take a nap under this nice weather." He said hastily, obviously not doing a very good job of trying to change the subject.  
  
Despite Jon's bad acting, Sakura fell for it. She yawned herself, and agreed. "Yeah...you're right...I'm kind of tired myself. Let's all take a nap under the shade." Jon snapped his finger, and said loudly. "Great idea!" Seconds later, someone yelled from the direction of the mountain. "Have they seen the thief yet?" Another voice answered. "No, he must be down there some where!" Immediately, Jon grabbed his bag, and fled. "You know what? On second thought, I gotta run. I'll see you later!" He left a puff of smoke on the path he ran by. Sakura and Syaoran stared, and Sakura put her hands to her waist. "That Jon...always stealing."  
  
~~~~~  
  
Ten minutes later, all of them were asleep with the exception of the birds that chirped quietly among themselves. Once again, Chocy snapped out of a nightmare. [No~! Not my nuts! Don't leave me, nuts!] He jumped up, and breathed hard. He wiped the sweat off of his face. [Phew...just a dream.] He turned, and saw the three birds chirping quietly under the sunlight. Chocy eyed them, got up, and walked closer.  
  
He poked them with his wings. [Little jerks. I don't see why Sakura and Syaoran like you anyway. You are little devils that don't deserve to have good owners. It's all because of you that my nut is gone. It's all because of you that Sakura and Syaoran yelled at me.] The more he thought about it, the madder he became. Then all of the sudden, an idea hit him. He smiled wickedly as if he was the devil himself. He eyed the three birds, and eyed Sakura and Syaoran, sleeping tiredly under the shade.  
  
He acted fast. First, he found a bowl in Sakura's backpack. Then he put the three birds into the bowl. Lastly, he carried them to the river's edge, and put them down. He took one last look at them, and showed a cricket smile. [Bye-bye, little devils. I hope I'll never see you again.] He straightened up, and looked from side to side to make sure no one was looking before he whistled, and kicked the bowl into the river. [Oopsy daisy...]  
  
He started to walk away from them. Then he paused when he heard them chirped. He hesitated, and looked back slowly. The birds were being washed down the current on the bowl in a very fast speed. Chocy turned away; he didn't want to care, but as he walked another step, he couldn't help but look at the little birds. His eyes popped out as he saw what awaited them up ahead.  
  
Around twenty meters ahead of the little innocent creatures were a waterfall; it roared in the quiet valley. If they birds went on, they would experience a four stories drop. Chocy jumped and ran furiously towards them as he yelled like crazy. [Ah~! I wanted to get rid of them, not to kill them!! No, come back~!!] "Wark wark~!!!"  
  
Sakura and Syaoran woke up to Chocy's cries. They rubbed their eyes and asked. "What's going on...?" Then their eyes popped out when they witnessed what was happening: Chocy chasing the little ones as they were being washed down the river, heading towards a waterfall. "Ahh~~!!! Chocy!! The birds!!" They both jumped up, and ran towards them.  
  
Chocy was inches away from them. He caught up, and reached out. Unfortunately, he tripped, and fell hard on the ground. Sakura and Syaoran jumped over him, and ran ahead. "Gi Gi! Mi Mi! Bi Bi!"  
  
It was too late, the bowl flew out as the river came to an end and a twelve-meter drop awaited them. Syaoran took one final shot, and leaped to try and catch them. But to his surprise, the bowl was caught by a branch that stretched out on a near by tree. It wiggled a little as the bowl sat on it steadily. Syaoran missed, and went straight for the fall. Sakura yelled. "Ahh! Syaoran!" She tried to hold him back, but wasn't strong enough. Both of them ended up going for a dive. "AAAAAHHHHH!!"  
  
Splash~!  
  
At the same time, Chocy had recovered from the fall. He ran, and saw the birds, sitting on a branch around two feet away from the waterfall. Chocy swallowed, and jumped on the stepping-stone. He reached up as high as he could, but he was still a few inches short. He tipped his toes, and stretched out as far as he could. [Just...a little more...] His wings caught the bowl, and it landed safely in his hands. [Got it!] But that wasn't the end of the job. His feet slipped, and fell down the river. He held the bowl above his head, making sure the little ones wouldn't drown as he struggled. There was no escape. They fell down the waterfall, and made another splash.  
  
~~~~~  
  
The splashing noise woke something up at the bottom of the river. Its eyes glowed like pearls as they snapped open. It swam upwards.  
  
Who...who is disturbing my sleep? The creature swam to look for its prey.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Meanwhile, Syaoran rose to the surface of the water and took a big breath. He looked around, and realized he was in a cave behind the waterfall. He started yelling. "Sakura! Sakura!" He splashed around, looking for the trace of her. Then something rose to the surface to the left of him. It was Sakura, gasping for air. "Syao...Syaoran! Help! My foot..." She sank again. Syaoran dove for her. Under the water, he caught her arms and he pulled her up with all his strength. Once again, they appeared on the water surface. Sakura coughed hard. "Syaoran...my foot is paralyzed."  
  
"It's okay." Syaoran said, "Just hold on to me. We'll swim to the inner side of the cave where the water is shallower." He put her arms around his shoulder, made sure she was hanging on tight, and began to swim more into the cave.  
  
With a minute of struggling, they were now at the part of the cave where the water only went up to their knees. Syaoran sat Sakura in his arms, and began to smooth her back as she coughed. A minute later, she stopped coughing. "I'm sorry..." She apologized. Syaoran looked at her, and asked. "For what?"  
  
Sakura avoided eye contacts. "I'm always in the way. I was trying to save you, but it ended up as you saving me instead. I'm so stupid." Syaoran shook his head. "You're not stupid, don't say that." Sakura went on, ignoring his compliment. "No...all I do is screw up. I never do anything right, like the time we had an argument, and you went off to fight the phoenix yourself. It's all because of me. I can't do anything, I can't even tell you how I feel properly." She lowered her head.  
  
That stabbed Syaoran's heart like a knife. If only he could tell her sooner that he knew, she wouldn't feel this way now. Sakura blushed, and then looked up. "Syaoran, I..."  
  
Before she could finish, Syaoran interrupted her; he held her tight, and pressed her face onto his shoulder. "It's okay!" He said. Then he softened, and whispered. "It's okay..."  
  
Sakura blushed furiously, didn't know what to do for a second. "Sy...Syaoran?" She couldn't move, nor did she want to. She could hear Syaoran's heart beat matching hers; they were equally fast. Syaoran shifted her in his arms, and continued his words. "I...I remember. I know."  
  
Sakura gripped onto his shirt, afraid to let go. "You...you do...?" Droplets dripped from her hair to the water below, making pleasant notes. Still holding on to her tightly, Syaoran nodded. "Yeah..."  
  
Sakura could feel her hands shaking; with her face hot, and her mind blurred, she went on. "And...?"  
  
Syaoran snuggled in her hair, breathing beside her ears. She gave a shiver of pleasure, and blinked drowsily. He smoothed her hair, and finally answered. "And I feel the same way about you." He let go of her, and faced her with determination. "I...love you."  
  
Sakura didn't know what to do. It was like a dream, a wonderful, wonderful dream. It was too good to be true. She couldn't believe she had found someone that she loves and he loves her back. [Please...] She prayed. [If this is a dream, please never wake me up.] She felt dizzy, and then she collapsed in Syaoran's arms. Syaoran shook her. "Sakura?"  
  
She slowly opened her eyes, and clung her arms to Syaoran's shirt. With a soft and quiet voice, she spoke. "Can we stay like this for a little longer?" Syaoran smiled, and wrapped his arms around her. "Sure." At that moment, nothing else mattered to them; as if they were the only ones in the world that exist. They held on to each other under the water droplets' harmony.  
  
~~~~~  
  
The birds were chirping; the bowl they were in was floating on water with a pair of chocobo wings keeping them up. The wings slowly rose, and Chocy's face appeared on the surface. He reached the shore, and dropped dead on it with the birds still over his head. The birds chirped delightedly, and hopped to the ground beside Chocy. They waved their wings happily, it was as if they were saying "Do it again! Do it again!" Chocy couldn't take it anymore. He shouted at the birds. "Wark! Wark! Wark!! (It wasn't supposed to be fun! I risked my butt for you little brats! Get out of my sight forever...)"  
  
The birds weren't listening; they were staring at something big behind Chocy. It rose up from the water, and its shadow fell over the birds. The birds awed. Chocy froze as he saw the size of the shadow. His head slowly turned around; he jumped as he realized that it was an oversized crocodile. Chocy's knees got weak, and fell back. He crawled backward for a meter or so. The crocodile leaned over, and started to talk in crocodile language. {Hey, are you the one who was disturbing my nap?}  
  
Chocy shook his head furiously. The crocodile leaned closer, and Chocy backed up even more. The crocodile studied him, and said. {Are you sure?} Chocy didn't dare answer; he just nodded as if his head was a spring. The crocodile turned around, and was ready to go when the three birds came chirping and hopping on Chocy's belly. The crocodile paused, and said. {Wait, I recognized those chirps.} It turned around again, and stared madly at Chocy and the birds. {You were the ones that woke me from my nap!}  
  
Chocy flopped his wings rapidly, didn't know what to do. {No!} He said in Chocobo language. {I swear, I don't know what woke you and I didn't wake you!} The crocodile raised his hands from the water, and pointed towards Chocy. {So you're saying, you swear you didn't fall from the top of the waterfall, making a huge splash, and woke me?}  
  
Chocy froze; he avoided eye contacts with the crocodile and fooled around with his wings. {Um...I might have done something like that...but there were a lot of people falling from the waterfall...}  
  
The crocodile didn't let him finish. {So you are! Let me show you what a crocodile missioner can do!} He opened his mouth, and it gathered blue energy from the surrounding. Chocy jumped up on his feet, and shouted. {Missioner!?} Seconds later, water blasted from the crocodile's mouth, and it was going for Chocy and the birds. {HYDRO PUMP!} The crocodile shouted. Chocy jumped out of the way. The water hit a tree instead. After the attack, all the leaves on that tree were gone.  
  
Seeing what that hydro pump can do, Chocy swallowed. He ran for it, carrying the birds in his hands. But the crocodile leaped forward, and caught him by the tail. Chocy struggled, and dropped the birds. They landed softly on the grass below. The crocodile licked its lips, and said. "I'm going to eat you for revenge." It opened it big mouth, and was about to dump Chocy in when the birds watched on the bottom.  
  
Mi Mi's little eyebrows rose. It didn't like that crocodile eating its friend, so it sucked in a breath, and blew out a few fireball. It hit the crocodile's hand. It dropped Chocy on the ground with a jerk, and started to rub its wound. Gi Gi and Bi Bi hopped close to Mi Mi. They decided on one thing: they didn't like this crocodile, so let's kill it! The kept firing little fireballs no bigger than ping-pong ball. It hit the crocodile as it backed up. Its eyes were glowing with fury now. It shot three hydro pump, each shooting one of the birds back.  
  
{Hey!} Chocy got up, and started pecking on the crocodile's head. {Pick on somebody your own size!} He started kicking and pecking the crocodile. The crocodile swung its head, trying to get Chocy off. Then it swept its tail, and hit Chocy.  
  
He fell back a few feet, and spotted the tattoo on the crocodile's tail. {That's it!} He shouted. Then all the birds recovered, and gathered in front of Chocy. Chocy pointed to the tattoo, and shouted. {Aim at that point! Then fire!} The birds fired. Two of the fireballs missed, and one grazed by the target. The crocodile withdrew with pain. Chocy leaped forwards, and said. {It's working! Keep firing, I'll use this chance to defeat it!} He kicked the crocodile. It was withdrawing back to the riverside. Chocy pointed and yelled. {Now!}  
  
All three birds sucked in a big breath, and fired at once. All three fireballs hit the target. The crocodile arched back in pain, and Chocy gave it a final kick, it lost its balance, and was falling back into the river.  
  
On the other side, Sakura and Syaoran were standing beside the exit of the cave, where there was a flat surface they could step on. The waterfall was inches away from their face, blocking them between the cave and the outside. Syaoran held Sakura's hand, and looked at her with a smile on his face. "Ready?" He said. She grinned and nodded. "Ready!"  
  
They counted together. "1...2...3!!!" They shut their eyes, jumped out of the cave exit and went through the waterfall. At the same the crocodile fell. All three of them splashed into the river, unaware of each other's existence. The crocodile's body dissolved in water, and its soul flew to Sakura's necklace. Sakura didn't notice it with the water splashing around her.  
  
Chocy sighed hard, and the birds cheered around him. But once they saw bubbles on the water, for a moment, they thought the crocodile was still alive. Sakura and Syaoran rose to the surface together. Chocy and the birds were relieved that it wasn't the crocodile. They helped Sakura and Syaoran to get to the shore.  
  
Syaoran lied flat on the grass with his limbs stretched out. He sighed, and said. "Oh my...look at us, we're all wet!" Sakura giggled, and crawled towards him. "It's a hot day, it'll dry soon enough." They smiled to each other. Then they heard the birds chirping happily, and got up to see what was going on. Their eyes glowed a little as they saw the birds jumping around Chocy. Even though Chocy seemed annoyed by them, it was a cute sight.  
  
"Alright, Choc. It seems they like you!" Syaoran stood up and walked towards him. "You're got to take good care of them now, okay? It's your job now." Sakura came behind him, and picked up Bi Bi. "This is so great. At first I was afraid that you and the birds wouldn't get along, but now...look at you. How cute!"  
  
Chocy looked at them with disbelieve. {No...wait...wait a minute.} He was about to protest when Sakura held his wings tight, and congratulated him. "Congratulation, Chocy. You've just become Mi Mi, Gi Gi and Bi Bi's babysitter!" Chocy almost fainted. The birds were still chirping happily, and they all jumped on to Chocy's back. Chocy saw their happy face, and sighed. [Oh well...it's your lucky day, little ones.]  
  
They went on. With the birds now on Chocy's back, Sakura and Syaoran walked beside them hand in hand. Syaoran looked down at his shirt, and said. "You don't suppose this will shrink after this will it?" Sakura smiled, and said. "We'll get a new one."  
  
Syaoran leaned his forehead on hers. "Did you forget that we're on in the lack of money right now?"  
  
Sakura laughed. "When were we not? It won't kill you to have a shirt that fits."  
  
Syaoran put his arms around her, and said with a joking tone. "Are you mocking me?" Sakura giggled, and answered. "Won't dare."  
  
Chocy looked back them the two, who were falling behind. They were walking and talking lovers' talk. Chocy thought the two was acting kind of different today, but couldn't figure out what. They seemed...closer. Chocy tilted his head, and walked on, wondering.  
  
To be continued...  
  
~~~~~  
  
Author's notes:  
  
Phew...finally! They finally told each other! That's probably what you're all thinking right now, huh? ^(oo)^ Well, you'll know, then, that this series is coming to an end... Yes...that's right. There's about...say...four more chapters? Around there. With the ending of the Legend of Ometin, I am planning to write a sequel. Legend of Ometin 2: The Legend goes on. That's just a temporary name. I'm still deciding...  
  
Oh well, see you in the next chapter!  
  
Piggy Ho Ho July 19, 2001 


	23. The Priest, the Monsters, & Goodbyes

The Legend of Ometin Chapter 23  
  
~~~~~  
  
As the group walked on, the sun was setting in a sky of fire. They watched the sun went down the horizon and were just thinking about not having a place to stay at when they encountered a stable looking structure in front of them. They soon noticed that the stable was filled with unusual creatures as they approached. Some were monsters that have a body of a human, head of an eagle and gigantic wings. Others went from small cats that have a ruby on their heads to buffalos that had tails made of snakes.  
  
The groups were amazed with what was in front of them when a young man with a blue and white robe walked out from the stable door. Their eyes met, and he smiled gently. "Hello, are you travelers?" The two nodded in silence, the young man went on. "If you want, you can stay here for a night. It is getting very late, and you shouldn't be out here in the dark. Please, do come in." He offered, but the two looked nervously at the strange animals. He caught the looks on their faces, and comforted them. "Do not worry, they're as harmless as the weeds around your feet. Here, let me lead you if you wish." He walked closer to Sakura and Syaoran who continued to stare at the animals. The young man took Chocy by the neck gently, and led them into the door.  
  
As soon as they were in, the young man introduced himself. "I am Father Ribian, owner of this farm. Please to meet you." He sat down on a chair around a round table. Sakura and Syaoran sat down as Syaoran made their introduction. "I'm Li Syaoran and this is my...lover, Kinomoto Sakura." The word "lover" reddened their cheeks. Syaoran cursed at himself in his mind. [You idiot, why couldn't you just say girlfriend!?] After a week, Syaoran still couldn't get use to the fact that Sakura and him was officially a couple. Over the past week he kept looking for a term to address her in a situation like this. "Girlfriend" was the one he went with most often, thought he never knew where did the word "lover" come from.  
  
"I see." Father Ribian smiled delightedly, looking at the couple. Sakura looked up and asked curiously. "Pardon me for asking...but aren't you a bit young to be a Father?" Syaoran teased her. "You're not thinking of one of those father that owns a child, are you?" Sakura glared, "Of course not! I know what a Father is!"  
  
Father Ribian laughed softly. "Yes, a lot of people questioned me about that. I just happen to know a lot about my religion."  
  
"I have another question." Syaoran said. "What's with the animals?"  
  
Father Ribian answered with a smile on his face. "These are creatures rejected by the humans. They are mainly rare or deformed creatures that I took charge of. It is very cruel to judge one based his or her appearance, but sadly that is the kind of society we live in today. These creatures were abandoned, so I built this place and took care of them."  
  
[So in another word, you collect monsters...] Syaoran thought quietly to himself while staring at the young pope. Father Ribian met his eyes, and smiled. "Why don't you hit the beds? You both look tired enough. It's okay for you to share the same bed, right?"  
  
Sakura and Syaoran looked at each other. "Ah..." They said in union. Father Ribian couldn't help but laugh. "What's wrong? Isn't she your...lover?" He laughed some more. Sakura and Syaoran blushed, and sank back into their seats. Father Ribian giggled, and headed out the door. "I'll go and make your...beds. Seems better that way." Sakura and Syaoran looked at each other and sighed.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Drops of grain scattered on the stable floor as Syaoran fed the three little birds, talking to himself. "Girlfriend...this is my...girlfriend. Girl-Friend." He sighed, and lowered his head to face the birds. "Man...why couldn't I say it right? It's a simple phrase. Why do funny words have to pop out of nowhere?"  
  
Chocy was watching him while leaning his chin on his wing, resting his elbow on the fence. [Typical. You finally get to date her, and you don't know what to call her. You know, if I get a date, I wouldn't...] Chocy stopped his thought as soon as he caught a sight of a beautiful young lady chocobo, giggling among herself in the corner of the stable as she watched Syaoran talked to the birds. Chocy's heart almost stopped. He cleared his throat, and walked towards her. She saw him coming, and stared at him with a question mark on her head. Chocy brushed his feather on his head, and offered her his wing. {Hello, the name's Chocy...} before he finished, he tripped, and made a direct head fall on the ground. He stayed there for a minute, stood up, dusted himself, and turned around. {Forget I said that.} He said, wanting to cry.  
  
The female chocobo smiled. She went ahead of him, took him by his wing, and said. {The name's Miranda.}  
  
Chocy was kind of surprised of how the way turned out, he said nervously, {My name is...}  
  
Miranda stopped him. {It's okay, I heard.}She smiled some more, and pointed to Syaoran, commenting. {Is that your friend there? He sure is strange.}  
  
Chocy waved and said. {Oh he's not that strange compare to some of the humans I've seen.}  
  
Miranda clapped her wings and asked excitedly. {Oh my! How many people have you seen?}  
  
Chocy was gaining confident. {Why a lot. Not just humans, I meet a lot of chocobos too. I meet tons of interesting people during my journey.}  
  
Miranda leaned forward and said admiringly. {Oh, I'm so jealous. I'm stuck here all day and don't have any chance to meet any interesting people. It must be great to go on a journey like yours. Chocy, can you tell me all about it?}  
  
Chocy blushed and scratched his head. {Wow, you made me sound like a hero...ehehe...okay. It all began when Sakura and Syaoran found me in Terry's stable...}  
  
Chocy began to tell her about his life story. Syaoran looked at him with a pair of gentle eyes. He was glad that Chocy found a companion. As he turned to feed the birds again, the birds' attentions were caught by something else. They turned and bounced away, Syaoran asked. "Hey, where're you guys going?" As Syaoran followed them, he saw a few penguin birds in front of them. The penguin birds seemed to be occupied with marbles that Father Ribian gave them. The infant birds have never seen anything roll before, so they seemed amazed by the rolling object. Their gazes followed the marbles wherever they rolled, heads turning from left to right, from left to right. Syaoran giggled at the cute scene.  
  
He knelt beside the birds and asked. "You like playing with marbles?" The birds looked up curiously. Syaoran picked a marble up and asked the penguin birds. "Can I use this one?" The penguin birds gave a light chirp, indicating that they agreed. Syaoran put the marble a foot in front of the infant firebirds, and said. "Now, you roll it like this." He rolled it towards them; they ran away with a light scream. Then they paused and stared at the marble as it came to a stop. They all hovered around the little ball and Bi Bi touched it with its tiny wings. It gave the marble a little push, and it rolled a few centimeters. The other two were excited now. They began rolling the marbles back and forth, cheering delightedly.  
  
Syaoran smiled. He pointed towards the penguin birds. "Why don't you guys play with them?" The three birds paused and looked curiously towards the penguin birds, the penguin birds did the same. They stared at each other for a long while, then one penguin bird rolled its marble towards Mi Mi. Mi Mi's eyes glowed, and all three birds bounced happily towards the penguin birds. The all started rolling the tiny marbles towards each other. Syaoran smiled, feeling happy for them that they got along.  
  
They'd need to get along if they were to live here.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Sakura waited on her bed silently, and looked up as Syaoran entered. She smiled and nodded, "Hey you." Syaoran glanced at her, and smiled lightly. "Hey."  
  
Right away, Sakura felt something was wrong. As Syaoran sit on his own bed and sighed, Sakura came and put her arms around him. He gave a little blush as she started to ask. "Is there something wrong?" Syaoran hesitated, and then shook his head. "No, nothing." Sakura snuggled in his neck, and kept asking. "That won't work. Come on, tell me."  
  
Syaoran sighed, and turned to face her. "Have you ever thought of what will happen to Chocy and the birds after we go back to Japan?"  
  
That caught Sakura off guard, she never thought of the question. She shifted uneasily, and shot back. "Have you?"  
  
"Yeah." Syaoran said, lying down on the bed. "I think about things like that. Where are they going to stay when we're gone? Who's going to take care of them? Will they get use to their new owner and things like that."  
  
Sakura looked hurt. She never thought of things like this, one of the reason was she never wanted to say good-bye. "I don't know...what about you? Have you got a solution?"  
  
Syaoran took her hand, and said. "I think...it's time."  
  
"What?" Tears began to flood in her eyes; Syaoran squeezed her hand harder and continued. "This farm seems to be perfect for them. Chocy just found a girl friend, and the birds seems to get along with the penguin birds. I hope Father Ribian can take them."  
  
"But...I hardly know the birds, and I don't want to say good-bye to Chocy." Sakura lowered her head. Syaoran sat up, and put her in his arms. "I know it's hard, but the longer we wait, the harder it's going to be. We'll have to do this sometime." He smoothed her back.  
  
Eventually, she calmed down. "Okay...I understand. But don't you think we should ask them first?" Syaoran nodded, and they headed out the room hand in hand.  
  
~~~~~  
  
No matter what they think, they should always ask the owner first. Therefore Sakura and Syaoran came to a room with high ceiling and a big cross that was hanged on top of a window. Inside, the animals slept on roughly sewed sheets and blankets. Father Ribian was kneeling in front of the cross, making quiet prayers. Sakura and Syaoran thought they shouldn't disturb, so they waited patiently. Moments later Father Ribian finished praying and stood up to face them. "Having trouble falling asleep?"  
  
Syaoran gave a weak smile and said. "You could say that." He looked around. "Nice room."  
  
Father Ribian gave a warm smile. "It used to be a church. I cleared out the benches and make this a resting area."  
  
"What happened?" Sakura asked. Father Ribian sighed lightly, and began to speak. "This area used to be such a lovely town, but because of religious differences, fights broke out often. Finally people moved out, separating the two religions and this town was deserted. That was when the owners left all the pets, and I took care of them. I started out with just a few normal animals. I don't know why but strange animals started to show up last summer. I have no intension of leaving them out there so I took charged and let them join me."  
  
He knelt beside one of the three tailed cats with a ruby on their heads. He scratched it behind the ears and the cat purred softly. "Beside than their appearance, they're really harmless. But people rejected them. I really don't see the reason why. So," He stood up and dusted his hands, "what brought you two out here in the middle of the night?"  
  
Sakura squeezed her hands together, Syaoran noticed she had trouble leaving her friends so he went ahead and asked. "We'd like you to take care of Chocy and the three baby firebirds for us...if it isn't too much trouble." He added the last statement in time.  
  
Father Ribian closed his eyes, and slowly reopened them, he concluded. "I do whatever your friends prefer. If they choose to stay, I have no problem taking them in. But if they choose not to..." Syaoran stopped him. "We understand. We'll do whatever they want." Father Ribian nodded.  
  
Sakura couldn't take it anymore; she dashed out of the church with out warnings. Syaoran called out, "Sakura!" He apologized to Father Ribian and excused himself as he ran off to catch her.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Sakura ran outside and collapsed under a tree. She began to sob. Syaoran caught up to her and slowed down as he got closer. He stopped a few feet behind her and remained speechless for a several seconds. Then when the silence broke, it was Sakura who spoke first. "Why...? Why, Syaoran? Don't you like Chocy anymore? Don't you like the birds anymore? Why'd you have to get rid of them?"  
  
"You're being silly, Sakura. You know I love them as much as you do!" Syaoran said, taking a step closer. Sakura shook her head. "Then why? Syaoran, why?"  
  
"You and I both know exactly why! We're going back to Japan after this crazy journey. If we just leave them hanging, they'll be on their own. We're lucky enough to find someone that can take care of them, so why not let Father Ribian take them?"  
  
Sakura turned around. "I don't want to leave them! Maybe...maybe there's another way! Why'd you have to give them up so fast? Maybe we won't go back, maybe...maybe we'll keep them and bring them to Japan with us..." Syaoran took her hands and held them tight. "You're talking nonsense, Sakura! Calm down!" Sakura struggled to be free. "No I'm not!"  
  
With a quick and smooth movement Syaoran let go of her hand, and drew her to his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. "I know, Sakura. I know what you're going through. You're going through denial. I don't want to leave them either, but it has to be done."  
  
Sakura began to sob again. "But I...but I..." Syaoran tightened his grip. "It's okay. Cry. Cry all you want if you think you'll feel better." Sakura didn't hesitate, she cried aloud in his chest.  
  
~~~~~  
  
A person smiled to himself, and said. "It's a perfect night for your test out, baby. Give it everything you've got!" Behind him was an object that looks much like a giant balloon. It began to grow, as if someone was blowing it. Then its size quickly reduced, and out came needles, that landed sharp on the ground. The person grinned and broke into a laugh. "Perfect."  
  
~~~~~  
  
Father Ribian sat peacefully on the doorsteps outside the church, stroking a three meters tall falcon on the neck. Suddenly, the falcon jerked up, and looked at the sky with caution. It sniffed, and looked towards far west.  
  
Father Ribian noticed its behavior, and asked. "What's wrong, boy?" The falcon gave a low growl and narrowed its eyes. Father Ribian followed his gaze and saw a dark figure at the far west side. "We have company."  
  
~~~~~  
  
Sakura was starting to calm down in Syaoran's chest. She stopped sobbing, and almost fell asleep. Slowly opening her eyes, she pushed herself away from him and apologized. "I'm sorry. I guess I wasn't ready to say good-bye yet. I didn't mean to be selfish."  
  
Syaoran smiled softly, and said. "That's okay. I know how you feel." She got closer and snuggled on Syaoran's shoulder. "Thanks, Syaoran."  
  
Moments later, an explosion from the church caught them off guard, and knocked them down. As soon as they got up, they saw smoke coming from the main entrance of the church. "Father Ribian!" They yelled.  
  
A young boy around the age of ten was sitting on an oversized globefish hovering in the mid-air. He laughed and cheered at the sight of destruction. "Woo-hoo! Way to go, boy! That was a great attack! Now, try to blow up the whole thing." He pointed to the church and commanded.  
  
A shadow stepped into the moonlight, and yelled. "That's enough!" The boy turned and saw a young priest of some sort that came out from the shadow of the wall. They studied each other for a moment, and the boy yelled back. "Who are you?" Father Ribian stepped forward and asked with a flat face. "I can ask you the same question. Who are you? And what are you doing here?"  
  
"I'm Kenneth, here to test out my new weapon that I just completed tonight. Isn't he great?" He hugged the globefish that he was sitting on.  
  
"This is no place for you test you weapon, you might endanger my pets and me. Now leave!" Father Ribian was getting mad. Kenneth looked at him, and said with a grin. "Who cares about you and your stupid animals? If I should kill all of you to get some practice then I'll let it be. It'll be a nice warm up for my Bobby here." He patted the globefish. Father Ribian couldn't believe how inconsiderate that boy was being. He gave him another chance. "Leave now or I'll have to take further action!"  
  
Kenneth leaned forward and challenged. "Oh what are you going to do? Let your puny animal bite me? What can you weaklings do?" Father Ribian had reached his limit. He would not stand another minute of this boy.  
  
Sakura and Syaoran came running towards them, and saw the enemy. "Are you okay, Father Ribian?" Sakura asked loudly. Syaoran saw Kenneth, and took out his sword. "Is this an invader?" He was about to strike when Father Ribian held out his hand to stop him. "It's okay. You're my guests, I'll take care of this." Syaoran hesitated. "But Father..." Father Ribian ignored him, and faced the enemy. Kenneth was laughing. "Oh come on now, priest guy. What can you do?"  
  
"Plenty, with the help of my friends." Father Ribian narrowed his eyes, and said. "Falcon, strike." It was quiet, but the falcon heard it. It leaped out of the shadow and almost landed on Kenneth and his globefish. But the globefish blew out a puff of air and it dodged backward, avoiding the impact. Kenneth looked at the falcon with surprise. "Where have I seen this...oh! I know!" He giggled, and said. "I created this falcon, where'd you find it?"  
  
Sakura and Syaoran both gasped, and shouted. "You created it?!"  
  
Kenneth nodded, and said. "It's one of my experimental specimens. I was creating a perfect monster for weapon and I abandoned most of the ones that failed." As he looked around, he realized more animals appeared. "Hey, these are all my specimens. So you gathered them up, huh?"  
  
Father Ribian's rage had gone way over his limit. "So, you were the one that abandoned all these animals...why? Why did you have to create them and abandon them?"  
  
"They were weak. They will never become the immortal monster I wished to create. But this one, on the other hand," He patted the globefish again. "is immortal. It is much stronger."  
  
"That's no reason to abandon them." Father Ribian's voice was starting to get shaky. "If you created them, you should take responsibility, and take care of the. You can just kick them out and expect them to survive on their own!"  
  
"You're right, I didn't." Kenneth said. "I just kicked them out, and expected them to die."  
  
Father Ribian's hands were squeezed into a fist. "How could you...how could you?"  
  
"What'd you expect from a devil from hell?" Kenneth's words shocked all three. Sakura and Syaoran both yelled. "The missioners?"  
  
"Oh, you seem to know a lot." Kenneth sat with confident. "Anyway, I'll have to do some killing now. See you weaklings in hell."  
  
Father Ribian couldn't take anymore of this. He commanded. "Everyone! This is the owner that betrayed you! Attack him and kill him if you wish, God himself wouldn't forgive a monster like him." All the animals got into fighting position. Kenneth laughed. "You seemed to forget the reason I abandoned them. They were failed experiments. They're not perfect. But I've got the monster that is. Do you really think you can defeat me?"  
  
Without warning, the battle began. The three-tailed cat charged forward and tried to tackle it, but it bounced right off of the globefish's stomach. The cat rolled away, and the globefish took the chance to try and flatten it. Its gigantic body landed on top of the cat; but as it rolled off to see how flat it's gotten, it saw no cat, just a hole in the middle of the ground. It looked around, and saw that the cat's armadillo friend rescued it. They came out of a hole, a few meters away. As the globefish tried to attack them again, a rhino with weird pattern on its skin stepped into the way. It blew out a puff of smoke, and charged at the globefish, knocking it away like a golf ball.  
  
At the same time, ink bombs came splashing on the globefish's face. It backed up, and saw penguin birds carrying ink-filled balloons, attacking from above. Miranda couldn't hold it anymore; she jumped up and started to scratch the thing with its claws. {You monster! Leave us alone!} The globefish couldn't hold long with the attacks coming from both Miranda and the penguin birds, Kenneth commanded. "Okay, globefish. Needle attack!" In a split second, the globefish shot out the needles that were around its body. They almost hit Miranda, and they shot down most of the ink bombs.  
  
Chocy and the three birds saw that their friends' lives were in jeopardy, so they joined the fight with out thinking. Chocy continuously pecked the globefish with his beak with the firebirds shot fireballs. One of the fireballs shot the globefish in the eye, and blinded it for a moment. It jumped back and forth like a bull, flopping off Kenneth. The falcon took its chance, flew up to the globefish, and slashed it with its mighty claws. The globefish's air escaped and it flew like a balloon.  
  
Kenneth wasn't being a good loser, seeing his globefish lost; he took out a dagger, and charged towards Father Ribian. Syaoran and Sakura both shouted, "Father Ribian!!" But it was too late; Kenneth already had his dagger stabbed into Father Ribian's chest. Father Ribian was too surprised and shocked to yell, he just stared at Kenneth with wide eyes, and fell back slowly.  
  
Syaoran ran up and pulled out his sword. "Monster!!" He yelled, and stroke Kenneth's dagger with his own sword. "You're even more despicable than that globefish of yours!" He stroke again, knocking out his dagger and sliced him from his left shoulder to his right hip. It was a brutal cut, but his body disappeared before you could even see the blood. Apparently, that cut also damaged the tattoo that was below his stomach.  
  
Syaoran turned around sharply, and yelled. "Father Ribian!" Sakura was already by his side, looking at the spot where he was stabbed. Surprisingly, there was no trace of blood. "Hang on, Father!" Sakura said; her voice was getting shaky. "I'll get the bandage." As she stood up, Father Ribian held up his hand, and said weakly. "No need..." Sakura stopped, and looked back.  
  
Syaoran knelt down beside him and said. "Are you saying you're going to die, so you don't need the bandage? Don't give up hope, Father!" Sakura also knelt down, and said tearfully. "That's right, Father Ribian. You're not going to die. Please, don't die! Who'll take care of the animals?" She started crying.  
  
Father Ribian looked at them tiredly, and said. "Who said anything about dying?" Sakura and Syaoran both stared at him with a surprise look. Father Ribian got up, looking perfectly fine. He reached into his clothes and took out something from his chest. Sakura and Syaoran knew what happened the instant they saw what it was.  
  
It was a silver cross, now bended out of shape. It blocked the dagger when Kenneth was stabbing. He smiled delightedly and said. "God was watching over me." Father Ribian looked up into the starry night, and closed his eyes as he thanked softly. "Thank you."  
  
When they looked back at the animals, they saw them cheering and dancing. They were all proud of their victory. Sakura's face showed a sign of sadness when she saw Chocy and the three birds dancing among them. Chocy jumping up and down with Miranda, and the three birds were dancing with the penguin birds. They blended right in.  
  
Just Sakura was watching silently, Syaoran put an arm around her, and said softly. "Looks like they already decided what to do." Sakura looked down, and nodded softly. Syaoran saw her movement, and put his other arm around her, hugging her tightly. She shook her head, "It's okay. I'm not going to cry. Because I know it's for the best. They'll be happy."  
  
Father Ribian smiled at the sight of the animal's dance and the couple that wouldn't let go of each other. He retreated back into the church, and retired for the night. Now the night is filled with sounds of animal cheering. "Tomorrow..." Sakura whispered. "Tomorrow we'll say good-bye."  
  
~~~~~  
  
The next morning, just when Sakura and Syaoran were outside, getting ready to leave, Father Ribian said. "You're almost there." Sakura and Syaoran looked at him with a confused look. He said again. "The base, you're almost there. You're going to fight the missioner's head, aren't you?" Sakura was going to ask how did he know when he closed his eyes and explained. "I knew the instant I looked at you. Not much travelers ever come this much down south. I always joked to myself that whoever that come must be the legendary heroes who are heading south, going to destroy the missioner's base that's just ahead. Who'd thought I was right?" He giggled. Syaoran went ahead and asked. "The base is just up ahead?" Father Ribian nodded, and pointed north. "It should be no more than a day's walk that way. There's a small town surrounding it. You should be able to rest at there first. I always go there to get supplies wherever I need it."  
  
Out of curiosity, Sakura asked. "What's the base like?" Father Ribian lowered his head, and said. "I don't go there anymore ever since the missioners were released. But I remember it being a fortress that looked like a giant scorpion that had its lower part of body stuck in quick sand. Of course, that was before it was activated."  
  
"Scorpion..." Syaoran said. The word rang in his head. He looked up, and smiled. "Thanks for the tip, Father."  
  
Father Ribian smiled, and said. "No problem. By the way, isn't it time for you to say good-bye to your pets?"  
  
Sakura's smiled turned upside-down, and said. "Right..."  
  
~~~~~  
  
Syaoran pointed at the birds and lectured them one by one. "Now you have to be good around the penguin birds. When you grow nice and big just like your mother, you're not going to start acting all bad and squash your penguin bird friends, okay? Okay."  
  
The birds titled their heads, and didn't understand a word he said. A sweat drop rolled down from his head, and he gave a warm smile. "I'm sure going to miss you. Even thought we hadn't spent too much time together, I feel that I was so close to you. Well, so long." The birds didn't seem to want him to go, they all started to follow him. He put his hand to his forehead, and sighed. "I was afraid of this..."  
  
Just when the birds where getting to his feet, one of the penguin birds chirped, and signaled the birds to play with them. The birds happily hopped to their way and completely forgot about Syaoran. Syaoran made a face, and cursed. "You little monsters...forgot about me already?"  
  
He looked over his shoulder to see Sakura, still hugging Chocy. Chocy knew what was going on even without them telling. They just stayed there like that for a long moment. Sakura said softly. "Chocy, you have to be good, okay? You've gotten us into a lot of troubles even since we got you. Now that you're alone, you better start acting like a grown chocobo. You're going to stay here, and have a lot of chocobo kids, and take care of Miranda, and...and..." She began to cry, and choked out the last few words. "And not cry when we say good-bye...unlike me..." She started to sob, and Chocy couldn't help but feel sad. Miranda at the corner was already crying like a baby.  
  
Sakura wiped her tears, and said. "I...I'm not going to cry...I promised myself." Syaoran walked closer, and comforted her. He looked at Chocy, and petted him on the head. "Good-bye old buddy. You've helped us a lot by getting us this far. We really appreciate it. I just hope you can find true happiness living with your love one." When he got to this sentence, he couldn't continue anymore, his throat turned dry, and he lowered his head. "I had some very good memories with you..." He fought back his tears, thinking [Sakura is already crying, I can't make things worst. Besides, I'm a boy, I shouldn't cry. It's shameful, it's pathetic, it's...] Two drops of tear dropped on his shirt. He forced a smile, and looked up to Chocy with watery eyes. "I'll miss you, old buddy. I really will."  
  
[It's human nature...it's a law: you must shed a few tears when you are leaving your friends.]  
  
~~~~~  
  
Chocy and Father Ribian came outside see them take off. They waved and walked a few meters before the birds came bouncing out of the barn. Sakura and Syaoran was kind of surprise to see them. They looked at Sakura and Syaoran with tearful eyes, and understood that they were leaving. Sakura and Syaoran looked at the cute birds, and couldn't budge for a second. Moments later, the three birds joined hands and formed a small circle. Their wings went up and down, and they chirped every time their wings went up. On the third time up, they held the position, and something glowed in the circled. At that point, their tattoos on their tummy fainted to nothing in the light, and the light gathered to for a fire-red crystal.  
  
Sakura and Syaoran stared at the crystal with disbelieve. "It's..." Sakura said, but didn't continue it. Syaoran went on. "It's the Fire Crystal." They held the crystal in their palms, and looked at the birds with gratefulness. "Thanks." They said. The birds smiled, and cheered like they always do, for both giving Sakura and Syaoran a gift they like, and for detaching from the missioner clan.  
  
Putting their sadness behind, Sakura and Syaoran walked on, hand in hand, holding the gift they received from the birds. Something told them that they'd meet again, someday. Until then, there is nothing that can stand in their way. As long as Sakura and Syaoran have each other, they can eliminate any obstacles.  
  
To be continued...  
  
Author's notes:  
  
WA~ Chocy left, isn't that sad?? I couldn't help but shed a few tears myself when I wrote this! ;(oo); Okay, I'm fine now! ^(oo)^ But don't worry, they'll see each other again in LoO2.  
  
Till then, see you Chocy~! 


	24. The Final Destination, the Base of Evil,...

"I'll fight till the end for the sake of your safety." Legend of Ometin  
  
Chapter 24 ~~~~~  
  
Ever since they lost their chocobo, Sakura and Syaoran's journey had become more difficult for them. "I can't take this anymore!" Sakura said as she sat at a side of the road, rubbing her feet. Short grass and, occasionally, some trees surrounded the road. The sun was high above, roasting them like marshmallows. Both of them had been sweating a lot; Syaoran's shirt soaked right through. "I know it's hard." He said. "But now you understand how much Chocy went through when we rode on him. He had to carry us, too."  
  
Sakura wined more. "I don't care, I'm human, and I'm not use to it! It's hot, and my feet feel numb." Syaoran sighed, and said. "Father Ribian said the next town shouldn't be far. Come on, we're almost there. Think of it this way, when you arrive at the town, you'll never have to walk another mile again."  
  
Sakura eyed him. "Seriously?"  
  
Syaoran nodded. "Yup. It's our destination, anyway. That's the base, Sakura. We made it, we're going to be home."  
  
Sakura felt a bit better, and soften her tone. "Yeah." She began to flash back on the faces she met in Ometin: Shi Shi, Kyn, Chica, Gullian, Blossica, Dr. Charter, and many many more. Last but not least, would be Chocy, Jon, and the three birds. Syaoran offered a hand, interrupting her thoughts. "Come on, let's get moving." She nodded, took his hand, and stood up. She felt a bit more enthused.for a while. Walking less than a mile she began complaining again. "It's too hot! I can't go on!" Syaoran turned around but didn't pay much more attention. "We have to get there before dark, come on."  
  
"Oh man." Sakura dragged on. As soon as she did, she twisted her ankle. "Ow!" She yelled aloud. Syaoran turned around, and knelt before her. "What's wrong?" Sakura sat down, and said. "My ankle.I think I hurt it." Syaoran put his hand to it and applied pressure. "Does this hurt?" Sakura made a scarlet scream. "Ah!" Syaoran jerked away. "Okay.you might have twisted it. You silly thing.you wouldn't be faking this so you can get some rest would you?"  
  
Sakura's face burned up out of rage, "What kind of person do you think I am? Some boyfriend you are, getting suspicious at me like that!"  
  
Syaoran's face reddened. He looked away. "Fine, fine. Sorry." He was still getting use to the fact that they were dating.  
  
He looked at her innocent face, now soaked with sweat. He sighed. Heart softening, he took off the backpack he was carrying and turned around with his back to her. "Here." He offered. Sakura looked at him, and asked. "What?" He pointed to his back, and said. "Climb on. I'll carry you for the rest of the way." Sakura was kind of surprised. "Hoe?" Syaoran turned around, and asked. "What? You're hurt, right?" Hastily, she got up. "Um.no, it's hard enough for you already. I'm okay. I'm not crippled or anything.ow!" She dropped back down. Syaoran leaned closer. "Keep that up and pretty soon, you will be." He put her hands over his shoulders. "Here." He said softly. Sakura blushed, relaxed, and just let Syaoran take her.  
  
"Here we go." He stood up, shifted her on his back, and started walking. "Now that wasn't so bad, was it? When was the last time you ever got a piggyback ride?" Sakura was feeling dreamy. "I can't remember." She said drowsily. It was hot, but surprisingly, she felt comfortable on Syaoran's back. She loved being close to him, feeling his body heat, even smelling his sweat.  
  
Syaoran smiled. He knew Sakura was falling asleep, so he kept quiet for the rest of the way while Sakura took a long nap on his back.  
  
~~~~~  
  
"I'll fight for you for the sake of your safety."  
  
[No.not the dream again. Syaoran? You're Syaoran, right? I just know you are. Syaoran, speak up! Why did you say that?]  
  
This time she could see it more clearly; he jerked, and was then pulled back as if he was tied with invisible strings. As he went, blood rained down from the sky. Sakura reached out. "No.no."  
  
"No!!"  
  
She woke up sweating and gasping for air. She soon realized she was still on Syaoran's back. Syaoran looked at her, and asked with concern. "Are you okay? You looked like you had a bad dream." Sakura looked at his face, and sighed. "Yeah, sort of. Oh," She slid off his back. "I'm sorry, you've been carrying me. You must be tired."  
  
Syaoran smiled. "Not at all." He pointed ahead. "And look. We're here." Sakura looked, he was right. They were here. About half a mile in front sat a town ---- more like a giant city ---- built with high walls of bricks. The wall circled around the city, so you couldn't really tell what was in it. But judging by the smokes that were coming out, you'd say that it was a pretty crowded town.  
  
As they got closer, they approached the door. It was only half as tall as the wall that surrounded the town, but it was already at least 30 metres in height. They looked for a way in, but it seems they had to do it the old fashion way. Syaoran walked up and knock on the gigantic door. A voice came out from the other end. "Who is it?" Typical, Syaoran thought. He turned to Sakura, and they nodded. "We're travelers, I hope we can stay in for the night."  
  
"Just a minute." The voice replied. Syaoran turned to Sakura and whispered. "We're close to the missioner's base, so don't reveal our identities to anyone. It's best if we just merge within the people." Sakura nodded. Moments later, the door opened with a loud squeaking noise. [Double the size, double the squeaking noise I suppose.] Sakura thought as they started to walk in.  
  
In front of them was a long, narrow road. Inside was kind of dark, and couldn't see what was ahead. The doorman was a local soldier dressed in rusty armor. "Here you go." He said. "Just follow the path to get into town."  
  
They walked on. Both sides of the rode were too dark to see. For a moment, the whole down seems deserted. Sakura and Syaoran swallowed; it was freaky and totally unexpected.  
  
A flake of confetti dropped as if out of nowhere. Syaoran jerked, and watched it drop, saying. "What the."  
  
Then all the lights were on, thousands of people who were hiding in the shadows were suddenly visible. They all cheered, and threw down ribbons and confetti. In union, they yelled. "SURPRISE!!"  
  
Confused, and frightened, Sakura and Syaoran blinked once or twice and stepped back. Noise filled the city, and they didn't have a clue what they were celebrating about.  
  
Not far away a banner unfolded. That was when it all became clear to Sakura and Syaoran. They couldn't help but be shock as they stared at the big words on the banner.  
  
WELCOME LEGENDARY HEROES  
  
The words, in bold, every letter a size of a man, were written neatly on the banner as it waved handsomely in the air. Sakura and Syaoran felt like they were going to faint any minute.  
  
Then an old and chubby man stepped out of the crowd, and greeted them. "Hello, I am the town's mayor. It is such a great honor to finally meet you. My name is Charles McNuen, but you can call me Mayor McNuen." The chubby man said, looking proud to be the mayor. "We have prepared a hotel room for you, first class. Oh, or would you like something to eat first? Uh, heroes?" He didn't sense it, but by then, Sakura and Syaoran were too shock to say anything. Questions filled their mind, but none of them made it out of their mouth.  
  
"Oh my god, old man!" A voice yelled. Sakura, Syaoran and Mayor McNuen all turned to the direction of the town's entrance and recognized the yeller right away.  
  
"Jon!" All three shouted back. Sakura and Syaoran turned surprisingly towards Mayor McNuen, wondering why did he know Jon. Jon took big steps towards the mayor, and started pointing fingers. "What the hell is the meaning of all this? Are you out of your old wrinkly mind?" Sakura and Syaoran looked from Jon to Mayor McNuen, confused about the conversation. Mayor McNuen looked innocent, and asked. "What do you mean, Jon?"  
  
Jon waved his hands wildly, and practically screamed. "THIS! All the flying flakes of confetti, the banner, and all these people! I'm surprise you didn't skywrote it! Do all of the world have to know Sakura and Syaoran are here!?" Sakura and Syaoran nodded, one hundred percent agreed. Mayor McNuen patted Jon on the shoulder, and said. "Calm down, young one. So, the two heroes are who you called Sakura and Syaoran?" He turned to face them, and took their hands. "Nice to meet you." Jon groaned. "Old man! Are you listening!?" Mayor McNuen faced him, and said with a more serious tone. "Oh come on, Jon. We haven't seen each other in years and the all you're going to say to your old grandpa here is rude language?"  
  
Sakura and Syaoran yelled in union. "Grandpa??"  
  
~~~~~  
  
A giant hook shape mirror was displaying the image of Sakura and Syaoran. A person with long hair and long black robe stared, and smiled to himself. "They're finally here." The mirror was twice his height. He lifted his right arm lazily and waved. The figure that seemed like a servant bowled, and turned off the image like a turning off a TV screen. The dark figure now turned, and started to proceed down the short stairs as his long robe draped gracefully behind him.  
  
Another person was waiting in front of him as he walked down the stairs. This person was a bit shorter, and had purplish white hair. The dark figure nodded to him, and he nodded back.  
  
"It's time."  
  
~~~~~  
  
Grandpa McNuen set down four cups of hot tea and offered. "Here, have a drink." Sakura and Syaoran took a cup without hesitating. They sipped simultaneously and peeked at Jon, who sat at the other end of the table with one leg up and one hand supporting his chin. He hadn't say a word since they entered Grandpa McNuen's house.  
  
Grandpa McNuen's house was surprisingly cozy. Sakura and Syaoran thought a mayor of a big town would live in big mansion with a lot of servants, full of antiques and paintings of him and his so-call families. Instead this house was no bigger than their own, if not, even smaller. It seemed like a place where.well, an old person would live. The furniture was simple and neat, and the house was dimly lid. As Sakura and Syaoran studied the environment, Grandpa McNuen stoke up a conversation with Jon. "Come on now, Jon. I really don't see why you're so mad. All I did was give the heroes a little welcoming party."  
  
Jon snapped a turned to his grandpa sharply. "A little?! Old man, the whole town was there!! It was more like a parade! Did you ever think of their safety?"  
  
"Of course I did. That's why I had doctors there at the party. Just incase they get hurt."  
  
Jon almost fainted. "That's not what I mean! I mean the missioners, the mean guys, the evil freaks that come from hell!  
  
"There really is no point trying to hide it. The missioners planted their base here. They can watch all parts of the town without us knowing. So if they're going to know it anyway so why not through them a nice a big welcoming party?" He smiled warmly to Sakura and Syaoran. Jon wasn't quite satisfied yet. "But the whole town didn't have to come!"  
  
Sakura waved her hands and said. "Jon, it's okay. We hadn't have a surprise party in a long time anyway." Syaoran added. "In my case, never." Sakura continued. "It was kind of fun, too. Well, until you dragged us back here that is."  
  
Jon sighed and groaned, resting his case. Grandpa McNuen continued setting out the plates, and asked. "So, how's Shi Shi?" Jon said lazily. "I haven't seen her as long as you have." Grandpa McNuen sighed long and hard. "Poor girl, living there all by herself. She must be lonely to death! We must go visit her sometime." Jon looked away, and said. "Well, it's pretty tough. I mean she does live all the way at the other end of Ometin."  
  
"The last time I've seen Shi Shi was almost eight months ago." Sakura said. "She seemed well."  
  
"Really, that's nice to know." Grandpa McNuen smiled delightedly. He went to the counter in the kitchen, took some pastries out and put one in each plate. They began having lunch as they went into more serious discussions. "As I say, the missioners had planted their base right in the middle of the town." Grandpa McNuen said. "Now our town is shaped like a doughnut, and the missioners had their base in the whole in the centre. Actually, it was there for generations. That is where our ancestors sealed the missioners. But I don't know when, or how, someone went ahead to break the seal and on one terrible night, I saw missioners flying all over the sky, spreading through Ometin to destroy our world right from the core. The next thing I know, the base was starting to activate. It turned from a scorpion to a fortress in the centre of quicksand. It's more like a pinecone with little claws now. It usually hides very deeply into the quicksand unless it's up to something. Heck, if it were out in the open all the time we'd have attacked it already. The problem is it's all the way down there."  
  
"Why are people still here?" Sakura asked anxiously. "Are you afraid that they're going to attack you any second?"  
  
"Defense is set around the base, they can't attack us easily. We have one of the best military systems to prepare for times like this. I just never thought the time would be so soon." Grandpa McNuen sighed again.  
  
"Who's in charge of the army?" Jon asked. Grandpa McNuen faced him and answer. "You know him quite well, Jon. It's General Cordo." Jon looked surprisingly at his grandfather and stood up. "Cordy!? He's the general?"  
  
"Who's Cordy?" Sakura and Syaoran asked. Jon sat down and said. "He's my classmate from school. We're buds."  
  
"Yes," Grandpa McNuen continued. "Unlike Jon he turned out to be a successful young man. I really couldn't see how could they have come to be friends. Ever since they were little they've been totally opposite kind of people. Jon was the active and sneaky one, and Cordo was the quiet and honest one. It always had been like this. When Cordo received his first award in school Jon had learned to steal his first wallet from his classmate."  
  
Syaoran couldn't stop giggling, Sakura kept asking, "Oh! Was Jon cute back then? I want to see the pictures!" Grandpa McNuen led her to the living room and said. "Sure, right this way." Jon jumped up and yelled, "Okay, way off the topic here! Weren't we talking about national crisis here!?"  
  
Sitting back down, they continued discussing. "There's another reason that we set up this army." Grandpa McNuen said, looking at Sakura and Syaoran. "It's to support the legendary hero and his heroine in anyway possible." Sakura and Syaoran gasped. "What?" Grandpa McNuen continued. "You are just two people, no, not even that, two children. You two can't possibly handle the whole army of missioners alone. And further more, we can't just sit in the comforts of our home while you two risk your lives for us."  
  
Sakura blushed, and said. "But." Jon patted her shoulder. "It's okay, you two deserve it."  
  
~~~~~  
  
"It is ready, sir." A man said.  
  
Inside the fortress, this dark figure now stands at one of the few openings. In front of him knelt a low class missioner, back towards the dark figure and was facing the opening. The dark figure stepped up and placed a hand on the missioner's shoulder and began to speak. "People of this town, listen up."  
  
Like a microphone, the missioner echoed the dark figure's voice until it was a thundering volume, and the whole town could here. Sakura and the group heard it loud and clear in the mayor's house. "What was that?" Syaoran said. Grandpa McNuen answered. "It's a broadcast made by the leader of the missioners! He had done this several times now!"  
  
The dark figure continued to speak. "We know the legendary heroes are here. I was surprise that they made it this far, but on the other hand," His lip curved to a smile. "I was pleased. However, that would not stop our plan. Hand over the hero or you'll suffer the consequences."  
  
Out side the fortress, the quicksand stopped as if it was turned off manually. The dark figure continued to speak. "You have two hours to give me the legendary hero. The quicksand is now stopped so the hero can proceed safely. If in two hours you refuse to give in, I cannot guarantee the rest the town's safey."  
  
When the announcement was over, Sakura said. "We have to go!" Grandpa McNuen stopped her. "Wait, let's not rush things. We've got tow hours, let's talk with the general first."  
  
"But." Sakura began, and Grandpa McNuen interrupted. "Don't worry, we'll be fine. We won't hand you two to the missioners." Sakura nodded, and they headed out to find the general.  
  
Jon remained in the room. He put his hand to his chin and began to think. Syaoran noticed he hadn't move, so he asked. "What's wrong, Jon?"  
  
Jon said thoughtfully. "Throughout the broadcast, that leader guy kept saying he wanted 'the hero'." Syaoran tilted his head, and asked. "What's wrong with that?" Jon turned to face him, and said. "There're two of you."  
  
Syaoran remained silence for a while, and asked. "What do you mean?" Jon continued. "If he truly wanted the two of you, won't he say.'heroes'? He made it sounded as if.as if he only wanted one of you."  
  
Syaoran made a face, and asked. "Why would he do that? Are you sure he didn't just made a grammar mistake in his sentence?"  
  
"I don't think so." Jon said, confused. "And I have to agree, it doesn't make sense if he only wanted one of you. So why did he say that?"  
  
Syaoran couldn't think of an answer either, "Well, I'm pretty sure it doesn't mean anything. Don't think too hard, Jon. Come on, Sakura and your grandpa is way ahead of us." He ran out. Jon had to agree, it probably didn't mean anything, so he headed out after him.  
  
Still, it sounded fishy.  
  
~~~~~  
  
They found General Cordo in the army's training camp. The camp was filled with soldiers and weapons. Tents were set up everywhere. They caught General Cordo talking to one of the captains. "Mayor McNuen!" He said, as he spotted them. "Did you hear the announcement, too?"  
  
General Cordo was a man of Jon's age. He was armed with a sword at one side and had a cape and armor on. Unlike Jon, he seemed reliable and serious.  
  
"Yes, I heard." Grandpa McNuen said. He turned to Sakura and Syaoran and said. "This is." General Cordo interrupted. "You two must be the heroes! It's such an honor. I'm General Cordo" He went ahead and shook their hands. Grandpa McNuen smiled, and said. "There's another person that I'm sure you'll be glad to see."  
  
Before General Cordo could say "Huh?" Jon came running out of the soldier crowd, yelling. "Cordy!" He gave Cordo a big hug and Cordo hugged back. "Oh my god, is that you? Jon?" They broke from the hug and looked at each other. "My, you grew. Who would have thought?" Cordo said. Jon smiled and said. "Well, you too. But man! General! I never thought you'd be so.important!"  
  
Cordo laughed, but his laughter fated off. "I'm afraid I won't have time for a proper reunion yet." Jon nodded. "Right, got to take care of these two kids first."  
  
Cordo walked them into the general's tent in the camp. The tent was obviously more fancy than the others with guards at each side of the doors. The group went in, and Cordo started to explain as they gathered around a map on a table. "As you can see, this is a map of our city. The base is here." He pointed to the centre of the doughnut. "And the military camp is here." He referred to some point north of the base. "It is not a difficult tast striking up an attack."  
  
"If they're not underground." Jon added. "Cordy, I know your army's good and all but can they dig and fight at the same time?"  
  
"Be serious, Jon!" Grandpa McNuen shouted. Cordo smiled, and replied. "Of course, that's true. My men might not be able to dig and fight at the same time but if they get out of their base, we wouldn't have to." Jon and Grandpa McNuen looked at Cordo and asked simultaneously. "How so?"  
  
"How else do you think the leader's going to get the heroes into their base?" Cordo smiled again with more confidants. "As we speak, they army is gearing up right now. We can are prepared to have an ambush when they come up and get the heroes." Sakura's face lid up a little. "That's a great idea!" Syaoran, however, stayed quiet.  
  
Cordo continued to explain. "We're going to use you as baits, and make it seems as if we're giving you two away. Then when they come out and get you, we'll attack full force, and have them defeated in no time." He was so excited he almost smacked the map. The rest nodded, they agreed that this is the best way. "Then of course," Cordo added. "There's a slit chance that you two can get hurt or even capture during the process, if they out smart us."  
  
"Don't worry, we're up to the challenge. Right, Syaoran?" Sakura turned to Syaoran. Syaoran was lost in his thoughts that he jerked up when she asked. "Huh? Oh, yeah."  
  
"Hey, general. Is this fine?" A woman walked into the tent, holding a sword. The woman had short hair and was wearing tights; her dark skins look beautiful in those clothes. Cordo walked over to her, examined the sword, and handed it back to her. "Yeah, it's fine. Just issue them to the high class soldiers." Jon was peeking over Cordo's shoulder; it took him a while for him to recognize the woman. "No way! Elsie? Elsie Olson? You're here, too?" He pointed and shouted.  
  
Elsie looked at Jon and revealed a crooked smile and said. "Oh my gosh. If it isn't Jon the school thief." Grandpa McNuen put his hand to his forehead and sighed. "Sometimes I just feel so ashamed for having this grandson." Elsie ignored the old man and continued to talk to Jon. "You owe me five bucks! You thought I forgot, huh? I still remember! You stole it from me in grade five!" Jon held out his hands defensively, and pretended that he didn't know better. Cordo showed a tire face and said. "Cut it out, you two. We have to go and do some major important business."  
  
Elsie saluted him playfully, and yelled loud and clear. "Yes sir!" She jogged out of the tent. Jon leaned over to Cordo and asked. "So what's she in charge of, general?" Cordo scratched his head, and said. "She's in charge of weapons. She also invents new kinds of weapons and we test them out to see if they're suitable in the battle field." He looked off to one side. Jon looked at him, and grinned. "You like her, don't you?" Cordo blushed, and shook his head. "Wha-wha-what?? No way! Come on, we've got business to take care of!" He stepped out of the tents, and Jon followed. "No, hey wait! Don't change the subject! I know you think she's hot! Come back here, you're such a bad liar!" Grandpa McNuen dashed out after them. "Jon! Don't bother General Cordo with his business!"  
  
That left Sakura and Syaoran alone in the tent; Syaoran hadn't say much during the whole meeting though Sakura didn't seem to notice. She smiled, and turned to him. "This is it. Are you nervous? I sure know I am." Syaoran shot back a smile lightly, then looked away. Sakura stopped smiling. "What's wrong?" Syaoran lowered his head, and said. "It's about the plan."  
  
Sakura leaned closer. "What about it?" Syaoran continued. "I think it's really not necessary for both of us to be the bait. What if."  
  
"Stop!" Sakura said. "Stop it right there!" She was suddenly mad. "I know what you're going to say! You're going to say something like let you go alone instead of both of us going, aren't you? Syaoran, we're a team! When are you ever going to learn that we do things together? You always neglect me when it comes to facing the enemy! I want to fight, too, Syaoran! I'm in this too!"  
  
Syaoran didn't feel bad about that, but instead, he felt upset. "I was just thinking that we shouldn't take unnecessary risks! There's no point if both of us gets capture!"  
  
Sakura shook her head wildly. Fighting back her tears, she shouted. "Why are you always like this? You're always over protecting me. Have you ever thought about how would I feel if something happens to you? I don't want to feel useless!"  
  
"You won't be feeling useless anymore if they get you! Nor will you have the chance to feel at all! Can't you see I'm thinking for your own good?"  
  
Sakura couldn't hold it anymore. "You're always trying to control what I do! You don't trust me. You always make me stay behind and feel bad when you.when you.do get hurt when you come back." She lowered her head and began crying. That was when Syaoran felt sorry for yelling at her. "Look, Sakura." he tried to go up and hug her, but she refused and ran out of the tent. "I don't care what you do! Have it your way!"  
  
Syaoran stood and look as she disappeared into crowds of soldiers. He leaned back on a supporting pole, cursing himself for hardening his tone. He regretted doing that. But at least now Sakura will be safe.  
  
~~~~~  
  
"Hey, Syaoran! Put this on!" Jon said as he and Cordo came back to the tent. He threw Syaoran a big blanket. "Wrap it around you as you go to the base. It's gonna get sandy as we battle, this should protect you from the sand, just wear it like a hood." He took another out of the pile and looked around. "Say, where's Sakura?" Syaoran put on the blanket and said. "We had an agreement. She's not going; we don't need two baits." Jon smacked his forehead. "Not again, Syaoran. Dude, think for once! This isn't fair for Sakura!"  
  
"What the heck are you talking about?" Syaoran said. Jon put on his own blanket. "Remember last time? You went off to fight the phoenix and ended up getting hurt. And who feels worst? Sakura. Can't you see she'd rather be by your side fighting than have you protecting over her?" Syaoran didn't know what to say. He'd like to agree with him, but couldn't. Jon sighed, and waved. "There's no point talking now. Come on, we have to be there in half an hour."  
  
"You're coming, too?" Syaoran said.  
  
"Are you forgetting who I am?" Jon stuck out a thumb. "I'm the heroes' special helper guy, remember? And don't you go all protective on me, too. Okay?"  
  
Syaoran smiled. "I won't." they headed out of the tent, and towards the base."  
  
~~~~~  
  
Sakura was sitting under a tree outside the camp. It was a nice and quiet place. Sakura stopped sobbing and wiped her eyes, thinking how stupid it was for Syaoran to not understand what she was thinking. Just then, a woman came out of the camp, saying. "Boy, that was tiring." As she headed out to her usual spot to rest, she saw a girl already took her place. At once, she recognized that she was the legendary heroine. "Hey you!" She yelled and waved. Sakura looked around, and said. "Oh, hi. Elsie, right?" Elsie skipped towards her and said. "Yup! But I don't know your name yet." Sakura smiled, and said. "I'm Sakura."  
  
Right away, Elsie saw that she had been crying. She knelt down and asked, "What's wrong?" Sakura closed her eyes, and said. "It's Syaoran." Elsie tilted her head, and asked. "The boy?" Sakura nodded. "He won't let me go to the base. He's so stubborn."  
  
"Boys can be that way sometimes." Elsie said, and sat down beside her. "Especially the ones that really really care for your. I sure know that feeling."  
  
"Do you have a boyfriend, Elsie?" Sakura asked.  
  
"Nope. But some guy has a major crush on me. He still doesn't know I know, though." Elsie giggled.  
  
"I don't get all these relation stuffs." Sakura said. "Doesn't it tire you sometimes? You know, when they get over protected?"  
  
"I do. But I keep it to myself." Elsie smiled and turned to face her. "Because I know he cares. He loves me very very very much, so he doesn't want me to get hurt. Whenever I get tire, I think like that and I'm just glad that he's protecting me."  
  
Sakura's eyes soften. Elsie was right, and Sakura knew it. Syaoran was just doing this because he loves her, so very much. She thought of all those time he was there for her; she hated the idea that Syaoran was getting hurt because of her, but it made her feel all warm inside when he did tried to protect her. He'd always be there, like the breeze that circles the earth.  
  
Though she understands, she didn't agree to what he did. She could never tolerate Syaoran taking charge of things. She had always felt useless when he did that. Confused and frustrated, she put her head into her arms and closed her eyes.  
  
Just then she saw the image of the dream, it was clearer this time. It popped out of nowhere in her inner conscious. Her eyes snapped open, and she looked up sharply, scaring Elsie. Yes, the image was clear, the same old image that she had been dreaming for months. It was all the same sequence, all the same business.  
  
Syaoran.  
  
She saw it; he was being pulled away as if he was linked to some invisible threads. He was facing the light, and Sakura was behind him, so she could only see his shadow most of the time. But one thing was clear, he was wearing some sort of.hood?  
  
As if she was struck by lighting, she felt a serge of uneasiness rushing threw her body, then automatically, he head turned to see the outer field. Soldiers were getting ready to leave, and the three boys were among them --- ------ Syaoran, Jon and Cordo.  
  
Sakura's eyes widen as she caught sight of Syaoran; her worries grew.  
  
He was wearing a hood.  
  
"No."  
  
Elsie put her hand to Sakura's shoulder and asked. "What's the matter? You look bad." Sakura mumbled, "The hood." Elsie looked, and said. "Oh, the blanket? All the soldiers have to wear that. Because they're fighting in a mini desert, the sand is going to be bounced up as they walk and they need that to protect them from the sand. What.hey!" Sakura ran after the soldiers before Elsie got to finish.  
  
Sakura ran with all she might. "No.no! Syaoran! Come back!"  
  
Already, the army was leaving. They all jumped on their own chocobos and dashed off. Syaoran sat on one of the chocobos, remembering Chocy. He looked at the sky for a while, and then jumped on the chocobo. With a loud cry, the chocobo ran off, close behind Cordo's chocobo. Jon followed both of them and was the last one to leave the camp. Sakura watched them dash off, and collapsed hopelessly on the ground. "Syaoran.come back." Her tears dropped onto her shirt.  
  
"COME BAAAAAAACCCCCCKKK!!"  
  
The dream.  
  
It was becoming a reality.  
  
To be continued. 


	25. Dreams, Reality, and Idipus

"I'll fight till the end for the sake of your safety..." Legend of Ometin  
  
Chapter 25  
  
~~~~~  
  
  
  
"Syaoran..."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
Syaoran turned around to see nothing but sand surrounded him. He was heading towards the base --- alone --- just as he was instructed to do. His earpiece picked up signal, and out came Cordo's voice. "You okay?" Syaoran tapped it and said. "Yeah! I'm...fine."  
  
[For a moment there I thought someone was calling me...]  
  
Cordo and the army were hiding behind the hill of sand that formed around the base. They stayed low and were arming with gears. Jon crawled over to talk to Cordo, "Don't you think this is kind of pointless?"  
  
"What?" Cordo looked at Jon.  
  
"This!" Jon loudly hissed. "What's the point of hiding and planning an ambush if they see all in the town?" He rubbed his thighs; "My legs are getting numb from all the croaching."  
  
"Relax, Jon. This is the Forbidden area."  
  
"Forbidden area?"  
  
"Right. In fact, the army camp, the route we took to here, they're all part of the Forbidden Area. The missioners might be able to see all in the town, but the Forbidden area is one place they can't get their hands on no matter how hard they try. The Forbidden area is blessed by the Ometin Goddess herself, so the missioner will only see a blob of light if they try to spy us."  
  
"I get it, so it's like we're hidden."  
  
"Right." Cordo said. Then he heard something buzzed in his earpiece and he brought it closer to his ears. "Do I start walking towards the base?" Syaoran's voice echoed in his earpiece. Cordo commanded loud and clear. "Yes, move towards the base. Try not to make any sudden movements until further notices." Jon cupped his hand to his earpiece and said. "Yo! Good luck, dude!"  
  
"Thanks Jon!" Syaoran said. Then the line went off.  
  
"Cool communicators! It picks up the signals so clearly! Did Elsie invent it too?" Jon said. Cordo blushed, and turned his head around. "I know what you're trying to do, Jon. Forget it! I'm not falling for it."  
  
"Oh...but you're blushing, look at you!" Jon leaned forward and messed Cordo's hair up, Cordo pushed him away. "Hey! Quit it!"  
  
And the friendship went on...  
  
~~~~~  
  
Without Chocy, Sakura had to rely on her feet to get to Syaoran and the army. She ran, knowing she could never catch up. The thought didn't make her give up. For once in her life she had to be there, she had to protect him.  
  
Her bad ankle kicked in and finally she collapsed. Kneeling in the middle of nowhere, she was stranded and abandoned. She felt useless, and tears flooded her eyes again. Then she began banging on ground, harder and harder each time until her hands started to hurt.  
  
That was when she heard it, rapid footsteps coming from behind. She turned and for a moment she thought she saw Syaoran sitting on Chocy. The two most important people, or chocobo, in her life were coming towards her. But as they got closer, she knew it wasn't them, instead it was Elsie riding a chocobo. She halted the chocobo to a stop and offered a hand. "Hop on."  
  
~~~~~  
  
Syaoran walked in an even paste. He was getting closer and closer to base. He swallowed, feeling a bit nervous. The wind was blowing hard, but the sand stayed low so he had his hood down. Besides, he wanted the missioners to recognize him when he comes.  
  
Inside the base, the dark figure was watching closely at the mirror he was looking at before. For a moment, it couldn't project anything but eye blinding lights. He knew what it meant. The hero was in the Forbidden area, where it was invisible to the missioner's eyes; and of course, the spies he sent that brought back the images to him couldn't see it either.  
  
He turned around and looked at the dark, spheres rotating high above ground in the centre of the room. He frowned, and said. "He should be here by now."  
  
"Your highness." A missioner said, the dark figure turned, and immediately know what he was calling for. A smile ran across his face.  
  
"He's here..."  
  
Projecting on a mirror was an innocent face of a little boy, coming the Forbidden area, and heading towards the base.  
  
The fortress.  
  
"Good." The dark figure almost grinned. His heart was pounding. [Seven years...] He thought. [Seven years I've waited for this moment to come...]  
  
"Power up the fortress. We're going out to welcome our little hero." He turned around, heading away from the mirror. "But you highness..." one of the missioners complained. "Won't this jeopardize our safety? The humans could be planning something and using him as the bait."  
  
"Even if they try, they wouldn't succeed. They're powerless against us." The dark figure said. "Now do as I command."  
  
~~~~~  
  
Under miles of sand, the little claws on the fortress began to move. They looked more like little feet of grasshopper that grew all around the fortress. They began to dig; as they dug, the fortress began to accelerate upwards. It crawled like a giant insect, inching its way closer and closer to the surface.  
  
As Syaoran walked, he felt the sand below him began to shake, harder and harder. "What...?" Before he knew what was happening, something burst out of the sand, and was now just a hundred metres away from him. The little claws stopped moving, and the fortress was now out in the clear, with some of its bottom part still buried in the sand.  
  
Jon and the soldiers were excited. "There it is! It's out!" They were eager to attack, but Cordo held them back. "Hold on! No need to rush!"  
  
Syaoran watched with amazement. The fortress was big. It was huge. He felt insignificant in front of it. Beside than the little claws around it, the next most noticeable feature it had was its windows. They look like red eyes one a monster's head. There were three of them, each bright red, and looked as if it was glowing.  
  
One of the windows opened as if it was melted away. A dark figure stepped out; Syaoran felt a chill as he looked at him. He was a man in his late twenties. He had long, black hair that he tided up behind him. He was wearing a cape as long and as dark as his hair with a piece of golden armor that covered his chest and his shoulder. Despise the fact that they were hundreds of metres apart, Syaoran could see into his dark, black eyes. They looked like black holes that could suck him in anytime.  
  
Syaoran so shocked when the dark figure spoke, than he almost lost his balance. "I don't believe we've introduced ourselves yet. What is your name, legendary hero?"  
  
Syaoran swallowed hard, and said clearly. "Syaoran. Li Syaoran."  
  
"Syaoran..." The dark figure repeated. He closed his eyes, and let the name sink in. " 'Child of wolfs'...it's a good name." He was speaking so lightly, that Syaoran couldn't hear him. When he reopened his eyes, he stepped forward. "I am Idipus, the leader of the missioner clan. I feel sad that your heroine isn't here to join you."  
  
[So he did mean "heroes" after all?] Syaoran thought. Idipus continued. "I have been expecting you. Why don't you come in?"  
  
Syaoran smiled and spoke with a bit more confident. "Now you know that's a lie. Unless you were expecting ten thousand soldiers."  
  
Idipus pondered. Then he saw it, thousands of soldiers were rushing out of the Forbidden area, charging towards the fortress. Soon they caught up to Syaoran, and he disappeared among the crowd. Idipus smiled and said. "Pathetic." He stepped back into the window, which closed itself afterwards. The soldiers charged, and Cordo yelled, "Fire!" One of the few soldiers with arrows and spears started shooting. It did nothing but create a bit of sparks at the side of the fortress. "We'll have to get in to do any good damage." Cordo said. "Keep charging! We'll invade the fortress!"  
  
~~~~~  
  
About a mile away, Elsie and Sakura were riding on the chocobo, running full speed towards the battlefield. They could see soldiers had the fortress surrounded, and occasionally they could see fire sparkling at the sides of the fortress. "They're starting!" Sakura yelled. "We'll have to get there!"  
  
"It's too dangerous!" Elsie said. "You can get hurt!"  
  
"I don't care, Elsie! If you're afraid you can stay! But I have to get in there, no matter what!"  
  
Elsie looked at the girl, she admired her courage. "Alright! We're going in!"  
  
~~~~~  
  
"They're getting closer!"  
  
Idipus was entering the control room when panic took over. The room was surrounded with mirrors similar to the one he looked at before but smaller. They all displayed a top view of the fortress. He could see it clearly: swarms of enemies were closing in from all around. They came out from the Forbidden area and spread around the fortress. From the top view they look like a pile of ants rushing toward food. A few missioners were in the room watching nervously; they were all wearing black uniforms with silver outline. They didn't even see Idipus when he came in.  
  
Finally, one higher rank missioner did manage to notice him and saluted nervously. "Your...your highness!" The others followed. Idipus nodded, and commanded. "No need to fear the weaklings, you know what to do. Once they get to a close distance, use the 'weapon'."  
  
"Sire...you're really going to use that...?" One of the missioners said.  
  
"Or we can just sit tight while the invaders attack, now how about that? Huh?" Idipus said sarcastically. The missioner didn't dare to say another word. Idipus started to talk again. "Use that to attack any invaders that get too close, and also, use it to bring back the legendary heroes, too."  
  
~~~~~  
  
The 'weapon' was a cruel device. Further more, it was brutal. So brutal that even the missioners themselves felt wrong using it on humans. But as a captain, the missioner could do nothing but follow his orders. He went to the weapon shelter began to do preparations. Back in the control room, they were setting their targets. At each sides of the observation mirrors were pebbles that you can use as a control. It brought a spinning red dot to the image and that was how you aim. The missioner soldiers set their targets on each of the mirrors and shouted. "Ready to fire!"  
  
The captain missioner swallowed hard. He pulled the lever to his right, and in front of him, rolls of red lights lid up, filling the hall with bloody colour. Soon the light began blinking, faster and faster. He moved a step over and put his hand on the second lever.  
  
"Fire!"  
  
~~~~~  
  
Bong!  
  
Syaoran thought he heard a distance explosion. He stood in the middle of the crowd; men passed by him, charging blindly towards the base.  
  
Syaoran looked up, and thought he saw something.  
  
Then his eyes widen as he saw it. One of the spikes, or little claws that the fortress used to dig out, it was...moving.  
  
No...it was flying...  
  
Directly towards them!  
  
"Look out!" He yelled, but it was too late. One of the large spikes shot out of the fortress like a harpoon and slashed a soldier's arm. He let out a scream and all the other soldiers where shocked.  
  
Then the spike withdrew --- it was actually pulled back by a chain that attached its end to the place it used to be. It flew back as fast as it was shot, and it flew to its spot on the fortress and was ready to be fire again.  
  
The soldiers stopped charging. They were horrified, knowing what was going to happen next.  
  
Thousands of harpoons shot out of the fortress's shell, firing again and again. Soldiers were getting hurt, the sand turned into a bloody colour. Syaoran took out his sword, stoke the harpoon and hit it to the ground. But it withdrew and attacked again, there was no end to this.  
  
"Retreat!" Cordo said. "We have to retreat now! It's too dangerous!"  
  
The soldiers heard the battle-cry and fumbled to retreat, but most of them were hit and injured by the harpoons. They had to be carried by their teammates while they use their weapon to hit off the harpoons that were attacking. Things were turning into a mess.  
  
Inside the control room, the missioners yelled. "We can't find the hero!"  
  
"There're too many soldiers!"  
  
Idipus silenced them. "Quiet! We'll keep attacking until the hero is captured!" Then all of the sudden, a missionary cried "There!" He yelled out the displacement, and the other missioners adjust the pebbles to set the coronations. "I see him!" "Me too!" The missioners yelled. Idipus smiled.  
  
Syaoran were dashing around, avoiding and hitting back the harpoons. He was helping the soldiers retreat; one by one they were leaving the harpoon's attacking range and reached safety. Then he saw that all of the harpoons were suddenly targeting him. He leaped from one place to another, dodging it smoothly. [I knew it...] He thought. [They are aiming at me! They're trying to kill me!]  
  
He wouldn't let innocent people suffer. Jumping and dodging, he came to a more deserted area, where most of the soldiers were already gone. Syaoran was jumping left and right, hitting the harpoons from time to time. He was hoping as they target him, it would give the others a chance to escape.  
  
The missioners whistled. "That kid's good. Let's see how long can he handle before he caves in." Now the missioners were just having fun.  
  
"Forget him."  
  
"What?" They all turned, staring at the dark figure. Idipus repeated. "Forget him."  
  
"But I thought...I thought we were supposed to kill him..."  
  
"It's no use."  
  
"Your highness..."  
  
"He's not out target." Idipus said with power. He gazed at one of the mirrors, and pointed. "This. This is our target." He was pointing to a girl that was entering the battlefield on a chocobo. There was another lady with her, but he was pointing at the girl.  
  
He was pointing at Sakura. ~~~~~  
  
"Sakura, Elsie, what are you doing here?" Jon said. Cordo was beside him, evacuating the soldiers and bring them back to the camp. Elsie pulled over her chocobo and said. "I don't really get it either, but Sakura was desperate to come. But man oh man! Those claws! They were just shooting at you weren't they!"  
  
"Yeah, and they still are..." Jon said; he turned to see Sakura running towards the battlefield. "Sakura!" Jon yelled out and ran after her, but Elsie pulled him back. "Are you crazy, Jon? It's dangerous out there!" Jon fought. "No! But Sakura!"  
  
Sakura ran with out thinking. She didn't even notice it when she dropped her necklace while getting off the chocobo. She had a bad feeling, a very bad feeling about all of this. She knew it was a mistake to run, but she wanted to be there, she wanted to be by his side. Running faster, she yelled aloud. "Syaoran!"  
  
Syaoran spun around. He was shocked to see her here. "Sakura...?"  
  
Then before they knew it, the harpoons attacked. They headed straight for Sakura. She tried to run, but her bad ankle kicked in again, and she collapsed on the sand. "No Sakura!" Without thinking, Syaoran leaped to protect her. He sprang up and smacked the harpoon so hard that his hand was shaking. He stood between her and the fortress, hitting the harpoons away. He didn't dare to dodge them, afraid that they were going to hit Sakura.  
  
"The boy's getting in the way, sire." One of the missioners said. Idipus smiled. "Then we'll just keep shooting."  
  
"Can you get up?" Syaoran asked between breaths. Sakura tried but failed. Then it hit her to use the Sakura Cards to help her, but when she reached for her necklace, it wasn't there anymore.  
  
Sakura gasped, then she turned to see Syaoran; he was defending in front of her, hitting the harpoons out of the way. They kept coming; there was no end to it. Sooner or later, he was going to be tired out. Sakura shook her head, thinking how dumb she was to get them into this. "Go! Go, Syaoran! Just leave me! I don't want you to get hurt anymore! I don't want you to get hurt because of me!"  
  
"No...no!" Syaoran yelled. "Who do you think I am?" His tone sounded mad and desperate. Hitting the harpoons non-stop, his hands felt like they were going to fall off any second. "I am your boyfriend! You lover! Whatever you call it! But the important thing is I care for you and most of all, I love you!"  
  
Sakura was touched; she could feel the tears flooding to her eyes. Syaoran went on. "I will never leave you alone! I'll always fight! I'll..."  
  
He sucked in a breath, and shouted. "I'll fight till the end for the sake of your safety!"  
  
Sakura felt her heart pound when she heard that phrase. It had replayed tons of times in her dream. Now that she heard it she could feel the reality. This was real; she wasn't in a dream anymore.  
  
This was real.  
  
"No..." Sakura said. "No, Syaoran...I..." Before she could finish, a harpoon sliced by and grazed her hand. "Ah!" She cried.  
  
Syaoran heard the cry, and couldn't help but turn around. "Are you okay..."  
  
He never finished that sentence.  
  
A harpoon went threw his body; shooting him from his back and drilled threw his guts.  
  
For a moment he stared unbelievably at his own stomach. His eyes were empty, hands shaking, reaching up to try and touch the harpoon.  
  
The harpoon that went straight through his own flesh.  
  
Sakura couldn't believe what was happening. It was like a nightmare, her worst nightmare, only this was real. This was real. "Syao...ran...?" She whispered, but no sound came out. She just stared soullessly.  
  
"SYAORAAAAAANN!" Jon screamed, he yanked off Elsie's hands and sprang towards them.  
  
The two children remained motionless in the battlefield. The missioners were cheering. "We've got him! We've got him, sire!" Idipus couldn't help but grinned. He commanded. "Good, bring him back." The missioner looked at him questionably. "What...? What about the girl?" Idipus turned and said. "You heard me! Bring him back!" The missioner followed.  
  
The harpoon withdrew and Syaoran was being pulled along with it. He was halted back and his blood showered on the sand as he was being carried.  
  
Rain of blood.  
  
"No...no..." Sakura reached out, trying to grab him. But there was nothing but blood, showering on her face, her hair and her clothes.  
  
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"  
  
~~~~~  
  
Jon ran. He never ran so fast in his life, not even when he was chased by two hundred police officers for stealing.  
  
[I'll never make it; it's too late...] He watched Syaoran's image getting further and further and knew it was hopeless. He'd never catch up. He cursed Elsie for holding him back. He kept running anyway. Maybe it was just a way to punish himself, he didn't know, all he knew was to run.  
  
As he ran, the harpoons around him began to withdraw. They flew back to the shell of the fortress with incredible speed. Jon's sixth sense as a thief kicked it and he had and idea. "No treasure in the world is better than a free ride." He said, and he jumped on one of the harpoons, grabbed on tight, and flew up with it.  
  
~~~~~  
  
As the harpoons withdrew and returned to its original place on the shell, Idipus walked out and welcomed him. He looked at the innocent child, hanging lifelessly on the harpoon, blood dripping. He was still conscious. After all that, he was still conscious. Idipus was impressed, and he was glad to see that Syaoran was such a strong little boy.  
  
Syaoran's eyes were half opened; his whole body was trembling. He glared at Idipus. Syaoran wasn't sure what he felt. Fear? Hatred? Or just surprise? Whatever it was he didn't like it. He kept glaring, though it was hard keeping his head up.  
  
"You did well." Idipus reached out and touched Syaoran's face. Syaoran tried to recoil, but he couldn't move. He could feel his cold, dry hand touching his face, smoothing his skin. Syaoran didn't like the feeling of it; Idipus was treating him like a child and Syaoran didn't want to be a child.  
  
Syaoran was glad when Idipus finally withdrew his hand. He breathed heavily; his wound was getting worst and worst. Idipus commanded. "Take him off the claw." The others did so. They put their hands on the harpoon and energy began to gather. Within a second, the harpoon melted like an ice. Syaoran slipped down and Idipus caught him. He wrapped his cape around Syaoran carefully and gently. Holding him close, Idipus stood up and began to walk towards the door. Syaoran lied there like an infant in a mother's arms.  
  
Syaoran tried to struggle free, but he could hardly ever move. He groaned, for every step Idipus took hurt his wound. Idipus noticed that, too. He smiled, and whispered gently. "Go to sleep. It'll be all right when you wake up. It's best for you to rest now." That was a command Syaoran didn't want to obey. However, his body couldn't say no. For some reason he felt relaxed, and his eyelids got heavier and heavier. Seconds later he was fast asleep.  
  
The missioners didn't really understand. They thought the heroes were their enemies, so why was the boss so nice to him? Why didn't he kill him? The hero received a lot more care from the boss than the most of them even the higher ranked ones. Confused, they followed their leader into the fortress.  
  
Something caught a missioner's attention. It was a buzz. He turned around and saw a hand around the other side of the wall, just next to the door. It was waving at him. "Yo!" The voice hissed. "A little help?" The missioner didn't know what was going on, but he went to help him anyway, thinking it was one of the lower rank missioners trying to get some help on closing the door. As he approached the corner, the same hand that waved turned into a fist and pounded him on the face. He was out in a second. Jon stepped out of the shadow and said to himself. "You can help me by being unconscious and lend me that uniform of yours. Thank you, by the way."  
  
~~~~~  
  
"Keep digging! It's all we can do!"  
  
It had been two hours since Syaoran was gone and the fortress had retreated back to underground since then. Miles above the base, thousands of soldiers were digging non-stop, hopping to rescue Syaoran. All of them knew it was hopeless, by the time they dug him out, he'd be long gone. They tried not to think about it, and hoped by digging none stop, they would forget about the bad side of the situation.  
  
Cordo was digging too, desperately. When Syaoran was captured and his men injured, he blamed himself for everything. Why couldn't he be more careful? Why didn't he see that coming? He dug, harder and harder, punishing himself with hard work and labor. He wished the pain on his arms and legs could ease the pain in his heart.  
  
His hands were full with blisters and they were bleeding badly. His hands were trembling, and his sweat was getting into his eyes. His men looked at him, and said. "General, you look bad. Go take a rest." Cordo just shook his head and went on, until finally, his hands gave in and dropped the shovel. He knelt down, and took a few deep breaths. Elsie came to him and gave him a glass of water. "Take a break." She said flatly. He sipped the water, but refused to rest. He dug on. Elsie was getting mad. "Cordy. It wasn't your fault. No one couldn't had see that coming, and no one could had prevented it."  
  
Cordo didn't look up. "I should have been more careful. Because of me, that child's life is in jeopardy. Not just him.Jon.is also." He slowed down, and lowered his head. Elsie lowered her head, also. They were worried about Jon, too. Worried sick. Elsie looked up, and began to tug on Cordo. "But there was nothing you can do. There's no point torturing yourself like that. Come on, you have to sit down." Cordo snapped off her hands. "No!"  
  
"You asked for it." Elsie said angrily. She looked at the soldiers and nodded, the soldiers nodded back. Then they went ahead and lifted Cordo off the ground. "You'll have to excuse us, sir, but it's for your own good." They carried Cordo towards the resting area where most of the injured soldiers were being treated. Cordo struggled hard. "Let go! Hey!" But he couldn't fight all five soldiers, seconds later, he gave in and let them carry him.  
  
They put him on a bed and Elsie signaled them to leave. Cordo collapsed on the bed and put his arm over his eyes. Elsie put a blanket around him, and for a moment, just listen to him breathe.  
  
When he finally seemed to calm down, Elsie went out and got a bucket of water and a small towel. She began wiping his sweat and treating his wound. The whole time, Cordo didn't say a word; he just had his arm over his eyes. Elsie looked at him, and said sympathetically. "You know, it's okay for a man to cry." Cordo took a big breath, and replied with a shaky voice. "I knew that."  
  
Elsie unfolded his arm and watched the tears dropped from his eyes. For the first time in two hours, he looked at her. Elsie's expression turned soft, and hugged him. "Let it out." Half lying down, Cordo wept in her arms.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Sakura was sitting in another tent, hugging her legs. She had been like that for hours, listening to the soldier's command and their chitchats. She overheard some of the soldiers saying there was little hope for Syaoran to survive after all these times. Sometimes one of the soldiers would shush the other one softly, pointing towards Sakura.  
  
Then Sakura heard footsteps, she didn't bother to look up. The person knelt down before her, and said. "Here, this is yours."  
  
Sakura looked up and saw her necklace dangling in the air. It was Elsie who brought it to her. Sakura took it slowly and put it around her neck. For a moment, she almost hated the necklace for didn't be there when she needed it the most. She resumed her position afterwards. Elsie looked at her sadly and sat beside her. She put her arms around her and said. "Don't worry, it'll be alright." Sakura leaned on her, and hugged back a little. "I hope so." She answered weakly.  
  
"Jon will get him back. Have faith in him." Elsie said that, but deep in, she was afraid that Jon might be captured, too. Then she would lose both of them.  
  
Sakura just nodded, and the two girls sat there hopelessly.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Jon was pulling his uniform here and there. He couldn't get comfortable. The uniform was itchy and didn't fit him. The waist part was too loose, and the pants were too short. Other than that, he would blend right in among other missioners. Occasionally he lowered his helmet so no one could see his face.  
  
He lost Syaoran and the dark man in the hall when he was trying to get the uniform, now he was just wondering around the base, trying to catch sight of them.  
  
He had no luck. The fortress was huge, and he saw everything from the restroom to the command room, but he couldn't find Syaoran or where they kept him.  
  
If they chose to keep him that is.  
  
Jon shook the thought out of his head. He had to try; by the look on Syaoran's wound a while ago, he couldn't have lasted long. Even if they did decided to leave him along, how long would it be before die from blood lost? Would they choose to heal him? Fat chance. All Jon could do was to try and find him before it was too late.  
  
That was not the only problem, suppose things did magically turned out fine and he did find Syaoran, still alive, how could they get out? They were trapped, buried under miles of dirt.  
  
Jon decided to take it one step at a time, and find Syaoran first. He came to the dining room and saw missioners eating away. Jon acted casual and walked into the room. He sat down, and listened to their casual talks for clues.  
  
"Where's your tattoo?"  
  
"I have it on my thigh, isn't it cool?"  
  
"Things didn't go so well on the date."  
  
"I want your food, how much is it?"  
  
"I think I'm coming on with a cold."  
  
"Why would Idipus keep the boy?"  
  
Jon's ears twitched, and he listened carefully to the two that were having a conversation across the table he was sitting. Two missioners were drinking some sort of liquor when they talked.  
  
"I mean.isn't that boy our enemy? Why would Idipus keep him alive?"  
  
Jon felt a sense of relieve as he heard Syaoran was alive. He continued to listen.  
  
"I don't know." The other one answered. "But he seemed to be Idipus's 'special little baby'." The missioner used his hands to quote. "He kept him in a very secured room and everything."  
  
"I know, did you see the way he carried him to the his room? It was like holding his own child!"  
  
"Did he carry him back to his own room?"  
  
"He told the person to clean it up and stuffs so the boy can use it after. Now he put him in section 9-14."  
  
Bull's eye!  
  
Jon left hastily while the others talked. [Section 9-14.so it'd be level 9 underground and room number 14.so I'll take the elevator.]  
  
"Hey you!"  
  
Jon's heart skipped a beat; he turned around and saw the cook looking at him. "Yeah, you. Come over here." [Caught?] The thought flashed throught Jon's mind. He tried to keep his hand from shaking, and went over to the cook. "Yes?" He replied, getting ready to run any second.  
  
"When you see Joey tell him to come down, will you? It's supposed to be his shift." The cook said. Jon exhaled softly, and said. "Sure, I'll.I'll do that." He turned around and got out of the room. As soon as he was out of sight, he relaxed and put his hand over his heart. "Oh my god, I thought I was dead meat!"  
  
Jon took the elevator down to nine levels below. Room fourteen was surprisingly big. It had a double door that led to a hallway that ended with a ninety-degree turn. Jon stayed close to the wall and peeked. There were two guards at each side of the doors.  
  
Jon went back outside and thought for a minute. [Maybe I should use the old trick again.] He went around, and was about to use the trick he used on the other missioner earlier -------- a buzz and a smack on the face. Just as he was getting ready, a shadow emerged from behind. He spun and was shocked to see Idipus there. He stood tall before him, and was looking at Jon.  
  
Jon panicked. "Ah.ah." His hands were waving in the air madly, didn't know what to do. [Was I suppose to salute or something? What do they refer him as? What kind of salutes do they use? Oh man.I should've been more observant.]  
  
However, Idipus didn't say anything. He just looked at him, and they remained silence for a moment. Finally, he spoke. "You want to see him, don't you?"  
  
Jon didn't understand at first, but he soon realized he was talking about Syaoran. "I." Jon couldn't answer that, he was afraid that it would be a trap.  
  
Idipus didn't wait for him to answer; he proceeded ahead, and commanded. "Follow me." Jon hesitated before he finally followed him into the room. He kept his hand close to his weapon just incase. Idipus went in, and the two missioner guards saluted him and went outside as he nodded and signaled them to leave. They passed by Jon without even glancing at him. Jon followed Idipus deeper into the room.  
  
It was dark inside expect for the panel in the middle of the room. It glowed creepily in the dark with red and green colours. Idipus went up to it and placed his hand on it. All around machines began to hum. The soft, blue spotlights came on and focused on a giant glass cylinder in the centre of the room. Jon gasped as he saw it. "No way."  
  
Inside the cylinder was bluish clear liquid with glowing tubes, and they were all connected to one place ------- Syaoran's body.  
  
His shirt was removed. The tubes were connected to his hand, his legs, his chest, and most importantly, his wound, that was where most of the wires went. The tubes seemed to be injecting something to his wound. Syaoran slept unconsciously in it with oxygen mask. The whole glass cylinder was bubbling; Syaoran looked like a beautiful doll that has been frozen in time.  
  
At first Jon didn't really know what they did to Syaoran, then it hit him: they were healing him.  
  
He went ahead and put his hand on the glass, looking at it like a kid that was looking into an aquarium. Idipus studied him, and said. "He'll be fine. He just has to be here for a few hours." Jon slowly turned around. He stared at Idipus with an unbelieving expression. "But.why?"  
  
Iidpus suspected that he'd say that. He closed his eyes and simply said. "Because this is my true destiny."  
  
Jon didn't understand. Idipus went on. "Those chemical that's being transmit to him," He looked at Syaoran. "Those can heal his wound efficiently, and." He stopped, and narrowed his eyes. He lowered his head, and looked away. Jon asked. "And what?" Idipus shook his head. "It's too soon, not yet. Time will come when you all realize it." He smiled, and turned around. "But you must be a good friend of his, you came all these ways, after all."  
  
"Of course. Just like you, I have my own destiny. I am his comrade." Jon said determinedly.  
  
Idipus's eyes suddenly softened, but he closed them again. "Then I supposed you'll do anything for him."  
  
Jon tilted his head and asked seriously. "What do you mean?"  
  
"I want you to do a favour for me."  
  
"A favour?"  
  
"I want you to return to your army camp."  
  
"Fat chance."  
  
"That's not all, I want you to deliver a message."  
  
"A message?"  
  
Idipus looked at him, and smiled. Jon could tell that he didn't mean that smile in any evil way; if any, it was a warm smile. "I want you to tell his heroine that he'll be fine."  
  
Jon was surprised. He frowned, knowing it would be nice if Sakura knew Syaoran's going to be all right. He shook his head, and said. "I don't get you man, I really don't get you."  
  
Idipus just looked at him. He was heading outside. "I'll bring you to the escape pot, you can use that to dig your way out." For some reason, Jon felt more comfortable around him now, so he followed him without thinking. Before he left the room, he took one last glace at Syaoran. He wished him luck and went out.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Outside, it was nighttime; and the soldiers were still digging. By then the hole was as big as a whale. Cordo's emotion was a lot calmer now, so he got back to the battlefield and commanded his man. Elsie and Sakura came out to help out, too. Elsie was bring water around and Sakura, even her heart was worried sick about Syaoran, used the sand card to help dig.  
  
As the soldiers were digging away, they heard a strange noise coming from the underground. They all dropped their shovel and listened. It was a hum that grew louder and louder. Suddenly, something burst out of the sand and gave a shock to everyone.  
  
They all turned to see it was a drilling machine, in a shape of a beetle. Its little mechanic legs were still moving when it got out. It slowed down and its shell open. All the soldiers gasped as they saw a man with missionary uniform. They were about to attack him when he suddenly removed his helmet and revealed a familiar face.  
  
"Jon!" Sakura, Elsie and Cordo all shouted in union. Jon shook off his sweat on his head, and winked to them.  
  
~~~~~  
  
"So that's the case." He said. "He's keeping Syaoran alive for some reason. For what, I don't know. But one thing's for sure, Syaoran's safe with him."  
  
They all gathered in the meeting room, and fell quiet when Jon finished the story of his adventure. "Why would he do that?" Elsie was the first one to speak. "Keeping Syaoran alive would only cause him trouble. If he ever wants to take over Ometin, the only way to do it is by getting rid of the heroes." Jon frowned. "I thought of that, too. But he seemed to.care for Syaoran. He certainly didn't want him to die."  
  
"At least not yet." Cordo said. Everyone was speechless again. Cordo went on. "We have to keep in mind that he has been planning this for quite sometime now. He might not be doing what we all think he's doing. Maybe kidnapping him is only the first step. He could be using him as a bait."  
  
"For what?" Elsie said.  
  
"Most possible to get Sakura." He turned to her. Sakura has been quiet throughout the meeting. She didn't want to take Syaoran's life as a national issue. She loves him; he's her boyfriend, end of story. She shook her head, and replied. "I.I don't think so. He could have got me, too if he wanted to." She put her hand to her forehead. "Back then.when he got Syaoran.he had plenty of chances to get me. So.why didn't he?"  
  
Jon studied her face, and said. "Why don't you go get some rest? It's been a rough day."  
  
Sakura nodded. "Yeah. Thanks, Jon. Knowing Syaoran's fine will certainly help me get some sleep." She left the room. Cordo and Elsie continued to talk about the possible outcomes and what exactly is up Idipus's sleeves as Jon continued to stare at the door.  
  
[Should I tell her.?]  
  
~~~~~  
  
It was late, but the soldiers dug on. There were fewer soldiers now, though. Sakura and the others rest in their own tents a mile outside of the battlefield. Sakura came out of her tent, and stared at the starry sky. Syaoran's image popped up again, making her heart ache. She reached into her shirt and took out the necklace he gave her. She squeezed it tight, trying to make herself shake less.  
  
Footsteps sounded behind her and she spun around. It was Jon, coming out of his own tent. He caught sight of Sakura and waved at her.  
  
Soon, he joined her, and greeted. "Hey, Sakura. Can't sleep?" Sakura just nodded. Jon nodded along, too. "Figures." He turned and looked at the soldiers a mile away, digging hard. "I mean if it were my lover that was caught, I'd can't sleep either." Sakura nodded again, then for a minute, no one talked.  
  
Sakura shifted, then asked hesitantly. "Jon, have you ever fallen in love?" Jon was taken by surprise. He looked at her at the corner of his eyes; he could see that she was still looking at the stars. He shook his head, and replied. "No."  
  
"Really?" She was facing him now; Jon looked at her, and smiled. "Yeah." She lowered her head, and said. "That's too bad. But I can't seem to understand why.you're such a nice person." Jon waved. "You know me, I can never stay in one place for long. I never got the time to really get to know a girl." Sakura tilted her head, didn't quite understand, but she went along anyway. "So, I guess you won't understand how I feel then."  
  
Jon held out his hand. "Whoa! If it's love advice you're looking for, you're asking the wrong guy, gal! My knowledge in romance is next to nothing!"  
  
Sakura giggled. "Really."  
  
Jon's face softened, and said. "You missed him that much, huh?"  
  
Sakura nodded, and turned her attention back to the stars. "It's only been a day since his gone, but I felt like I haven't seen him in years. Oh, Jon, I'd do anything to see him." She tried to hold back her tears.  
  
Jon saw the look on her face, and he turned away. "Anything, huh?" He said. Then he put his hand to his chin and thought deeply for a while. Sakura caught the look on his face and wondered silently.  
  
Finally, Jon drew to a conclusion. "You know, Sakura. When I said I know almost no romance, I was kind of lying. You see, I get a lot from you two. The way you look at each other, the way you two care for each other. I think I understand love more than I think." He turned and faced him. "So I do. I do understand how you feel. That's why I've decided to tell you."  
  
"What?" Sakura asked eagerly.  
  
"When Idipus let me back on the surface, he didn't just ask me to tell you that Syaoran's fine."  
  
"Hoe?"  
  
"He also had another request. A request that I didn't want to do, but I guess I'll have to do it. For Syaoran's sake, and for your sake." He breathed deeply, and continued. "He wants you to go the fortress, to take care of Syaoran as he heals."  
  
Sakura's face almost lid up. "He wants.me?"  
  
Jon nodded. "You can ride the escape pod I came from to go down. He said it was necessary for Syaoran to have a maid he trusts. But.I don't know, it just sounds too much like a trap! And I know if I tell you, you'll jump at the chance, so."  
  
Sakura thought for a while, then she looked up, and faced Jon with determination. "I'll do it. I'll take the chance."  
  
"I knew you'd say that." Jon sighed. Shaking his head, he went on. "Okay. All right. But you'll have to promise me. Promise me you'll be careful. If something happens to both of you I'll have to live with that guilt for the rest of my life."  
  
Sakura cheered merrily. "Right!" She spun around and took one last look at the stars. All of the sudden, they seemed as if they were filled with hopes.  
  
To be continued. 


	26. The Crystal, the Base, and the Final Bat...

Chapter 26  
  
~~~~~  
  
Where...am I?  
  
Syaoran stood alone in the darkness. He turned around a few times and saw no one around him.  
  
Is anyone here?  
  
He proceeded ahead. To what, he couldn't tell. Every direction looked exactly identical to him. He rubbed his arms; he was cold. The atmosphere was chilly and creepy.  
  
After a few steps, he gave up. He just stood there. Then all of a sudden, a blinding light appeared. Syaoran used his arm to cover his eyes. He could barely made out what was shining.  
  
A cross with wings?  
  
He woke up with a burning pain in his chest. He breathed hard; and waited for his eyes to adjust to the dark environment. He blinked, and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Ah..." He moaned, putting his hand over his face, he tried to remember what happened. Memories began to flash in his head. The last thing he remembered was the soldiers, and the battle...and...  
  
Idipus.  
  
Suddenly, he jerked up, and realized he was in a dark, grand room. It had a bed, of which he was lying on, a table at the corner, a bookshelf, and a mirror. The room had no windows but a door that seemed to be shut tightly. Then he looked down and gasped. His chest was bandaged. Then he remembered; he was shot with a harpoon, so why was he still alive, he wondered.  
  
His instinct told him to get out of here. Though this room seemed more like a resting room than a jail, it was still enemies' ground. He had to leave. As soon as he tried to stand, he knew how weak he was. His legs trembled and his chest hurt when he tried to support himself. He collapsed on the bed, and tried to get up again. Then, with a humming noise, the door slid open, and Idipus walked through. "Don't try too hard. You'll only hurt yourself in this condition."  
  
For some reason, Syaoran wasn't surprise when he walked in. Idipus tried to put him back to bed, but Syaoran fought back. "Let me go!" Idipus obeyed. Syaoran took the blanket and cover himself as he lay down. "I got it...I won't go anywhere. It's not like I can, anyway."  
  
Idipus smiled. He asked. "How are you feeling?"  
  
"How do you think I feel? You drilled through me with your harpoon!" Syaoran yelled.  
  
"It was necessary." Idipus answered.  
  
"What? To kill me? Of course it's necessary, dope head! You're a missionary, it's your duty to kill me!" Syaoran shouted as he got up, but his chest hurt and he had to lie down again. "But why...?" He said in between breaths. "Why did you heal me if you are trying to kill me?"  
  
Idipus studied him. "Missionary...is that what you think?" He asked quietly.  
  
"Huh?" Syaoran said, he could barely hear him. "What are you mumbling about now?"  
  
To his surprise, Idipus began to undress himself.  
  
"Huh...?" Syaoran watched as he dropped his cape on the floor. Then he began to unbutton his shirt.  
  
"H-hold on..." Syaoran said, his voice shaky; he nudged backward. "Wh-wh- what are you doing?"  
  
~~~~~  
  
Thousands of feet above the fortress, all the soldiers stopped digging as they prepared for Sakura's take off in the escape pod. She sat inside and realized it was amazingly small in the inside compare of its appearance from the outside. She could hardly move when she sat in there. Jon stepped up to the opening above and looked down at her. "You comfy?"  
  
"As comfy as a person in a tight space can be. When are we taking off?" She said. Jon turned around few times as if he was looking for something. "As soon as Elsie gets here. She stayed up all night, trying to invent something that'd help you in this journey." He blinked, and stood up. "Oh, here she comes." He jumped off the escape pod and headed towards her. Sakura could hear them talking. "Where the heck are you?"  
  
"Sorry, I had to do some finishing touch on this. Where's Sakura?"  
  
"Inside already."  
  
Sakura could hear Elsie's footsteps as she climbed up the metallic surface of the escape pod. "Hey, Sakura." She appeared above her. "I'll give you this, it'll come in handy, I'm sure of it." She dropped in a piece of equipment. It looked like an egg with wings. It was silver and has a few lines here and there. "Hang on to it, okay? And good luck on saving Syaoran!" She gave her a thumb up.  
  
"Right!" Sakura nodded.  
  
Jon shouted, "Yo! Elsie, we have to get moving!" Elsie nodded, "Coming!" As soon as she was out of the sight, the opening shut tight.  
  
"Everything clear! Ready to go!" The soldier outside shouted, and Sakura responded. "Roger!" Sakura tabbed a few buttons on the right side and the inside of the escape pod began to glow. The engine began to hum. On the left side, Sakura pulled the handle, and the escape pod began moving; she could feel it digging as it drilled down.  
  
She gripped on to her necklace, and shut her eyes tight. [I'm coming...]  
  
I'm coming, Syaoran!  
  
~~~~~  
  
Idipus let his shirt slid down to his waist and smiled to Syaoran. "See for your self."  
  
Slowly, Syaoran began to turn around. He saw Idipus's muscular chest; it was well built. His skin was smooth and pale. Other than that, nothing seemed strange. Syaoran narrowed his eyes, and asked. "See...what?"  
  
"You see? No tattoos." Idipus said.  
  
Syaoran gasped. He was right. There were no tattoos on him anywhere; anywhere Syaoran could get his eyes on anyway. Idipus put his clothes back on. "I can show you the rest if you want...but do you really want me to go there?"  
  
"No." Syaoran answered very quickly. "God, no."  
  
"Then you trust me?" Idipus said as he clipped his armour back on. Syaoran studied him, and nodded weakly. "But...why? If you're not part of them, then why did you become their leader? Is that the reason you didn't kill me?" Idipus was expecting the questions; he looked at him, and replied. "You will find out later, when the time is right. As you continue on with your journey and the legend, you will know."  
  
"My journey? But I thought my journey ends here!" Syaoran shouted; his chest was hurting again.  
  
Idipus did not answer. He turned around and was ready to leave. "You shouldn't rush things. It'll come to you...sooner or later. For now, get some rests." He disappeared behind the door.  
  
Syaoran slammed his pillow madly. Every breath he took burned his wound. Idipus was right; he needed to get some rests. Hating to admit that, he fell asleep uneasily.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Syaoran was running in a field. He took a look at his hands; they were tiny. That was when he realized he was a child again. He was going through the normal everyday trainings when he was a kid. He looked up and saw his mom standing in front of him, looking mad. "Why did you stop? Come on, get moving!"  
  
"But mom...everyone else gets to play...why do I have to do this?" Syaoran complained with a high pitch voice.  
  
"That's because you're the only male descendent in the Li family. Now stop complaining and give me another three laps!" His mom shouted harshly. With a push, Syaoran began to run.  
  
He passed by the playground on his way. He saw his classmates there, having fun and playing. Even his sisters were there, cheering and laughing. He was the only one on the field. He was alone. He stood there and looked at them longingly.  
  
"It is your duty."  
  
Now he was in his living room in Hong Kong. His mother had summoned him, saying they needed to discuss important matters. Syaoran stood across the coffee table as his mom sat in front of him. "You know as a descendent of Clow Reed's clan, you must stop the Clow cards."  
  
"I understand." Syaoran said without emotion.  
  
"You have to fulfil your duty, in Japan."  
  
"Japan?"  
  
"Yes, you will proceed alone." She looked up. "Do you have any problem with that?"  
  
"I..." Syaoran began. If he went to Japan, he'd have to live alone. He'd have to leave his friends and family. Then again, he thought. He had always been alone here, in Hong Kong. What friends? He never had time to meet much friends of his age. His sisters always played among themselves and left him out. His mother was strict. It'd be the same in Japan. "I...I'll go."  
  
I have always been alone...  
  
I always will be...  
  
I don't care.  
  
I'm use to it by now...  
  
Right?  
  
I...  
  
No...  
  
I...I don't want to be alone anymore...  
  
In the dark, a hand reached out and touched his. He looked up and saw an angel with great big wings. He felt dizzy, but he held on to her. "Are you here...to comfort me?" He asked. Lowering his head, he went ahead and hugged her. "Will you be with me...forever? I don't want to be alone anymore."  
  
The angel hugged back, but she didn't answer. Syaoran felt comfortable. He closed his eyes, and held on to the angel.  
  
Slowly, he reopened his eyes. That was when he realized he was dreaming. As his eyes focused, he gasped. For a moment he thought he was still dreaming, for there stood his angel.  
  
...Sakura.  
  
She was beside him, holding on to his hand. She looked relieve to see him awake. "What are you doing here?" Syaoran asked, half getting up. "Did they get you, too?" Sakura shushed him. "It's okay, it's okay." Her voice was gentle and soothing. Syaoran couldn't help but relax and lied down. Sakura smooth his hair, still holding on to his hand. "I came here voluntarily. I want take care of you, and see you with my own eyes."  
  
"How did you get here? What about the missionaries? Did they let you through that easily?" Syaoran said; he was getting excited again.  
  
"Jon boarded the fortress before they sank it down. For some reason, Idipus let him back on land after Jon saw you being healed. Then I took the escape pod Jon rode and got back here." She explained briefly.  
  
"Then what about the missionaries?"  
  
"They were going to attack me when they saw me coming through the exit. But Idipus came and let me through." She said. Syaoran sighed, and looked straight into her eyes. "You shouldn't have risked it...you could've been hurt, or killed!" Sakura's eyes softened. She shook her head. "I would do anything to see you Syaoran. Because you're my boyfriend."  
  
Syaoran was touched. For a moment, he didn't know what to say, so he lied back down. Seconds later, he squeezed her hand tight, and said. "I'm glad you came." Sakura blushed, and he went on. "It makes me feel...less lonely."  
  
Sakura shook her head. "You'll never be lonely again, Syaoran. I promise, because I'll always be here. I'll be with you...forever."  
  
Syaoran's gaze softened. He reached out and brushed her hair. He was sure; she was the angel he had been waiting for. Their eyes locked on each other's, and then with a skip of heartbeat, their lips came into contact. Syaoran wrapped his hands around her, and she did the same. They kissed, harder and harder, promising each other that they'd never separate again.  
  
~~~~~  
  
"What the heck is going on?"  
  
All the missionaries held a secret meeting without Idipus's permission. After they saw Idipus's attitude towards Syaoran, they already began to get suspicious. As if nursing him and healing him wasn't enough, he went ahead and let the heroine in, too! At first they thought their leader was playing a mind game at the legendary heroes, but as time passed, their suspicion grew. Is Idipus really on their side? Or is he just using them as his puppet?  
  
"This has got to stop!" One of the bigger missionaries said. "If this goes on, the hero and heroine will eliminate us for sure!" He pounded on the table. The others agreed. "Why the heck is the leader so nice to them? They are our enemy, right? What good will they do staying alive? I'd say the sooner we kill them, the sooner our problem would be solved."  
  
A thin, weak missionary stood up, and argued with a shaky voice. "But...Idipus has always guided us. Maybe it's part of his plan, maybe he's trying to tame the heroes, so they'd be in his control, and help us take over Ometin."  
  
"Won't happen." Another missionary objected. "I already thought of the possibility. It's too risky to have one of the enemies to work for us. If their heads become clear, we're goners. I'm pretty sure the boss thought of that, too. Besides, if he's really planning something like that, why won't he tell us? He's been informing us on what he's up to until recently, when the hero's captured! I'd say he's up to no good."  
  
The others said "Yeah" and "Right on", but a few still stood strong to believe their leader. "Still, shouldn't we wait and see what happens? Or at least ask him?"  
  
"By that time, it'd be too late." A muscular missionary said. He took out a knife and toyed with it. "If we ask anything, he'd be suspicious. I'd say we strike!" The missionary pointed the blade downward and stabbed the table hard. "We rebel! Idipus is getting us nowhere. For all I know he could be on the human side."  
  
All the others gasped. Some of the missionaries denied the idea. "What do you mean he's on the human side? That can't be!" The muscular missionary turned, and stared at the objectors. "Oh yeah? Well let me ask you something. Have you ever seen Idipus's tattoo?"  
  
No one spoke. That was when they realized the true that seemed impossible. "Oh my god!" Most of them yelled. "How could this be?"  
  
"We've been fooled by this so-call leader!" The muscular missionary took the knife out of the table. He swung it like a baton and placed it back into its pouch. "We'll have to take initiative! The leader is no longer trust worthy! Tonight, we'll attack with all we've got! It's a thousand of us again on Idipus! Now are you in? Or are you out?" Most of the missionaries cheered. "Yeah! I'm in!" A few of the fateful followers remained undecided. The muscular missionary walked towards them, and said. "Come on, wimps! He's a traitor now!"  
  
The followers argued. "What if we're wrong? He's our leader, after all. He doesn't necessarily have to explain to us what he wants to do." The muscular missionary patted his shoulder. "We have nothing to lose. If he turns out to be right, we'll just have to take over Ometin without him."  
  
"But...we'll be without a leader."  
  
"Heck! We'll get a new one! Someone that's on our side for a change!"  
  
"But..." The followers began again. The muscular missionary stopped him. "Look pal, you're whether part of the problems, or part of the solution." He stared at them with cold, icy eyes. They all backed down, and decided to play alone...for now. "Heck, I'm in too!"  
  
"That's the spirit! Tonight, we bust the leader!"  
  
~~~~~  
  
It was late, and Sakura fell asleep beside Syaoran. Suddenly, she woke up to a beeping sound, coming from her pocket. She looked into her pocket and realized the egg Elsie gave her was ringing. She took it out, almost dropping it. At first she was trying to turn it off so it won't wake Syaoran; that was when she pushed the button and Jon's voice came out yelling. "Elsie~!! I told you that piece of junk won't work!"  
  
Then came Elsie's voice. "Don't insult my master piece!"  
  
Sakura was surprised to hear from them. At first she thought they were actually here. After turning around a few times, she was convinced that this egg was some sort of walkie-talkie. "Jon? Elsie?" She said. Now Syaoran was fully awake.  
  
"Sakura!?" The little egg yelled with Jon's voice.  
  
"See, I told you it'd work!" Out came Elsie's voice.  
  
"Shut up, Elsie! That's not the point right now!" Jon argued. "Sakura! How are you guys doing?"  
  
"I'm okay. Syaoran seems to be fine, too." She said.  
  
"Yo man! Talk to me, Syaoran!" Jon insisted.  
  
"I'm here, Jon." Syaoran said. It seemed like they haven't seen each other for years, yet it was only yesterday when they got separated. "How're you doing?"  
  
"The soldiers are still digging." Jon said. "Though I'd doubt it'll work."  
  
"Look Jon, why don't we..." Just when Sakura wanted to finish the sentence, the door clicked, and she fell silence. They turned to see it was Idipus walking in. Hastily, Sakura turned off the egg. "What do you want?" Sakura demanded, backing up.  
  
Idipus looked outside, and looked back at them. "It's starting."  
  
"What is?" Sakura asked. Idipus closed his eyes, and reopened them slowly. "The missionaries, they are rebelling me."  
  
Both Sakura and Syaoran gasped. Idipus shut the door tight, and bolted it shut. "I'm afraid this won't hold them for long." Sakura stood up, and walked towards him. "What's going on?" Idipus turned around, and said. "I know this would happen someday. They knew I'm not part of their clan."  
  
"What?" Sakura said, then she looked at Syaoran. Syaoran got out from his bed. His wound tingled a little, but other than that, it was fine. "It's true." He said. "He doesn't have any tattoos." He moved on to Idipus. "But why? That makes you a...human, doesn't it? If you're a human, why did you become their leader? Who's side are you on, anyway? Are you here to help us? Or are you our enemy?"  
  
Idipus studied him, and remained silent for a second. Finally, he said. "I'm on no body's side." Sakura and Syaoran frowned, didn't quiet understand. Idipus went on. "I don't care what happens to the missionaries, nor do I care what happens to the people in Ometin. I'm on my side, which I stand alone."  
  
Sakura and Syaoran didn't know what to say. What did it mean? Idipus smiled. "But I want the legend to proceed, at all causes. That was why I opened the seal."  
  
They gasped. Sakura yelled. "You were the one who opened the seal!" Syaoran was shouting, too. "Why? Why did you do that?" He asked, but they were running out of time. Outside, missionaries were gathering. They were shouting and yelling. They hit the door, harder and harder, trying to get in. Idipus went over to the bookshelf, and turned the ornament that was on it. The bookshelf opened and revealed a secret passage. It looked like a long slide with twists and turns. Idipus signalled them to get in.  
  
Sakura went first. She didn't know whether or not to trust him, but she wasn't willing to be killed by a lot of missionaries. She slid down. Syaoran went up to the opening, and looked back. "What about you?" He asked Idipus. He closed his eyes and said. "I'll stay here." Syaoran warned him. "They'll kill you." Idipus looked at him, and said. "Do you care?" Syaoran shook his head. "I'm not sure anymore. Who are you really? If you're one of the bad guys, why you saved us? If you're one of good guys, why'd you open the seal?"  
  
Idipus looked at him softly, and pushed him down the slide. "Whoa!" Syaoran yelled as he slid down. Before he lost sight of Idipus, Syaoran heard him say. "You'll find out..."  
  
~~~~~  
  
"The line's dead!" Jon yelled. "Are your device defected!?"  
  
Elsie yelled back. "I told you! Don't insult my masterpiece!" She was busy working with a bigger device with a huge monitor. Jon came over and said. "Well, come over and help!"  
  
Elsie snapped. "Look! I'm doing something very important! Just shut up and sit down!" Jon fell quiet, feeling afraid to yell back. Cordo came over and patted his shoulder. "She doesn't like people interrupting her while she works." Then he looked at her. "What you got?"  
  
"I'm picking up signals...and done." The screen glowed. It showed a series of dots gradually appearing. "What's this?" Asked Jon, when he felt her fire is off. "It's a missionary radar." She said. "It picks up the unique wave pattern on their tattoos and locate them. We should have an exact number of how many of them are there in a minute or so." She concluded as she tapped a button.  
  
"Wow." Jon said. Then, someone arrived outside the tent in a hovercraft with a gust of wind. Jon and the others went out to see who was it when his grandpa appeared before him. "Oh, she's here. I've been waiting for so long."  
  
Elsie ran up to the hovercraft. "Oh, my dear machine!" Jon asked his grandpa as they walked. "Who's that?"  
  
"About six months ago, I told Elsie to invent the fastest transportation available. She was such a genius to have come up with in with in a week. Then I had people to deliver it all the way to the other side so she can be here at a time like this. The shipping took six months, but I bet she only spent two days, using the hovercraft to get here." He explained.  
  
"Who is it already?" Jon asked louder. His grandpa gestured. "See for yourself." Jon looked and gasped.  
  
"Grandpa!" A girl with dark-blue hair shouted. She hopped out of the hovercraft, and ran towards them.  
  
"Shi Shi~??" Jon exclaimed. The girl ran towards them and tried to hug both of them with her short hands. "Oh~ I missed you two sooooooooo much!" She looked up. "So? Where are they?"  
  
"Where are who, now?" Jon asked. Shi Shi said with a "Duh" expression. "The legendary heroes! I haven't seen them for so long~!" Jon scratched his head, and said. "We've got to fill you in...but you won't like it."  
  
~~~~~  
  
"You did what?" Shi Shi shouted when Jon finished telling her the situation. "How could you have handed in both of the heroes!? I can't trust you with anything, Jon!" She crawled across the table and strangled him personally. Cordo and Elsie tried to pull her off. Once she let go, Jon said. "It's not like what it sounds."  
  
"It's exactly like it sounds!" Shi Shi yelled with an even higher volume. She jumped off the table and flung her hair. "I guess I'll have to do everything myself if I want it done correctly. I knew I should've switch places with you in the first place! You should've been sitting in Mt. Kilos waiting!" She pointed and yelled some more.  
  
Elsie shifted towards Cordo and whispered. "Jon's little cousin is kind of loud, isn't she?" Cordo rubbed his forehead. "You have no idea. They've been like this since they were little. Even Jon was five years older than Shi Shi, she still acts like a big sister to Jon."  
  
"You know her since little? So she used to live around here, too?" Elsie asked.  
  
"She left before the missionary thing started to live on Mt Kilos, just to catch up and guide the heroes when they arrived."  
  
"What? That's on the other side of Ometin! She was to survive all on her own?"  
  
"You don't know Shi Shi...you have no idea what that girl can do." Cordo sighed and scratched his head.  
  
"I see..." Just when Elsie was going to ask more questions, a soldier barged in. "Ms. Olson!" He shouted; everyone stared at him. "The...the machine! It's malfunctioning!"  
  
"What? That's impossible." She ran outside and headed straight to the control room. Everyone else followed. She entered, and saw the screen showing a big blob of light in the centre. "What the heck?" She walked closer, the soldiers answered nervously. "We didn't touch it, we swear!"  
  
She checked the status, and said. "It's running fine, there's no problem."  
  
"Then, what's that blob of light?" Cordo said.  
  
She stared for a second, and then gasped loudly. "Oh my god!" Cordo and Jon ran to her and demanded. "What? What happened?" Elsie spun around and shouted. "We have to contact Sakura and Syaoran fast!"  
  
~~~~~  
  
"Ow!" Sakura hit her bum as she landed on a sandy surface. At first she thought sand leaked in from the outside; but as she paid more notice, she soon realized that the sand was pure white. She just came out of a hole that looks a lot like a laundry slot. In front of her was a triangular altar with decorations of a cross with wings. The altar was made of a sort of white marble. The whole place looked blessed.  
  
Just then, Syaoran landed behind her. "Ah!" He landed face-first.  
  
As Sakura went to help him up, her egg was beeping again. She reached in, and pulled it out. "Yes, we're here." Jon's voice burst out loud. "What the heck happened? You just hung up on me!"  
  
Sakura said apologetically. "Sorry, Idipus came in."  
  
"Idipus!? Are you two okay?"  
  
"We're fine...we're just..." Just when Sakura was about to finished, someone grabbed the mike from Jon and shouted loudly. "Sakura!! Syaoran!! Are you two fine? Hurt? I'll kill Jon for either answer!" Sakura and Syaoran both skipped a heartbeat when they heard that voice. "Shi Shi?" They shouted together.  
  
"The one and only!" Shi Shi said loud and clear. Sakura couldn't hold the excitement. "How'd you get here so fast? It took us eight months just to get here!"  
  
"Let's talk later!" Elsie interrupted. "We have a major problem." That was when everyone fell quiet and listened. Elsie took a big breath as she continued. "Look, I developed this radar that detects the missionaries. It will show their location. But when I used them today it showed a gigantic blob. At first I thought it was broken, but when I took a closer look, I knew that wasn't the case."  
  
She paused, and everyone waited. Elsie swallowed hard, and finally went on. "The fortress...that fortress is a missionary itself."  
  
That shocked them. Shi Shi almost fainted. Cordo stepped up and demanded. "Are you sure?" Elsie nodded. "The radar is actually reacting to the fortress's energy. That was why it seemed like a blob, because it is...too big."  
  
She waited for everyone to calm down, and continued. "That's not all. By what I've interpret, that fortress is alive...and further more...it is...the head of the missionary clan."  
  
Sakura and Syaoran felt like they just woke up from a dream. That explained it; if Idipus is not the head of the missionary clan, this base must be it. Sakura cleared her mind and asked. "How do we destroy it?"  
  
"We're still trying to figure that." Elsie said. "Where are you? And what happened?"  
  
"We're deep inside the inner part of the fortress." Sakura said, looking around. Now that she knew the fortress is alive, she felt a chill creeping up her spine. "It has an altar, and this place is surrounded by white sand."  
  
"The shrine!" Shi Shi yelled. Jon and the others looked at her. She ignored them. "Sakura, does the alter have a symbol of a cross with wings?"  
  
Sakura gasped and turned. "Yes!" She double-checked. "It does! How'd you know?"  
  
"That's the legendary shrine!" Shi Shi said. "It was part of the legend. 'The blessed cross is the key. With the help of the water, fire and wind, it'll set Ometin free'. That's the shrine that will help defeat the head of the clan! But...what is it doing in the fortress?" She sat down confusedly. Jon patted her on the shoulder, and turned seriously to face the others. "Someone planted it there." All the others focused on him. In union, Sakura, Syaoran and Jon said one name. "Idipus."  
  
"I'm getting more and more suspicious about that guy." Elsie said. "Why did he do such a thing? Is he a friend or a foe?"  
  
Syaoran lower his head and said. "We never knew. The missionaries...they rebelled him. He helped us escape and brought us to here."  
  
For a while, no one said a word. Finally, Sakura broke the silence. "Let's just do this!" She took Syaoran's hand, and they nodded to each other. Together, they walked to the altar. Sakura said to the egg. "What do we do, Shi Shi?" Shi Shi brushed her hair back, and took the mike. "In front of you, you should see four small holes in the altar. Place the fire spirit at the top, the water spirit at the left and the wind spirit at the right. Lastly, in the centre, insert the 'angel's wing' crystal."  
  
"What are the fire spirit and all that junk?" Syaoran asked. Shi Shi shook her head helplessly. "I don't know. I'm just saying this according to the legend. It didn't mention anything about them besides than the fact that you use them to purify the missionaries."  
  
"Purify?" Syaoran asked. Shi Shi explained. "Purify is to get rid of all the missionaries in the base. All you have to do is defeat the head of the clan, this fortress."  
  
Just then, a loud bang sounded, and the ground shook violently. Sakura and Syaoran fell to the sand, and the shaking stopped. "The missionaries..." Syaoran said. Sakura looked up, and yelled. "They're starting to fight Idipus!"  
  
~~~~~  
  
Dozens of missionaries charged up to Idipus. Idipus held up his hand, and energy started to gather at his fingertip. With a sweep, a large force pushed all of them against the wall. Idipus turned to flee to the outer part of the fortress, and arrived at the command centre, where it was big and he can see the enemies coming. He stood in the centre, and began to gather energy again.  
  
Another group of missionaries charged. Idipus swept his hand from bottom up. A shock wave shot up like a sharp blade and spread out like a wave. As the missionaries fell, more came to replace them. Idipus was trying to catch his breath, but the never-ending missionaries kept coming. He tried to charge up his magic again, but the archer shot an arrow that grazed pass his face, distracting him. The arrow left a small slice on his face that started to bleed. He was growing tire, but if he give up now, he'd lose the battle, and his life.  
  
He reached into his cape, and took out both of his staffs. His patient lost, and he used his high-rank magic to summon the dark dragon. A strange mark began to glow on the floor; then it spread, like a fuse on dynamite. Then all the marks grew, and a blinding light shot up. A dragon emerged from the light, its body as dark as a black hole. It took out half of the missionaries in the room, but more kept coming back. Idipus fought hard with his dragon. Things weren't looking good.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Sakura started towards the altar. "If we purify this place, we can save Idipus, right?" Syaoran grabbed her hand. "But Sakura..." Sakura turned around and began rambling. "You're right. We don't know if Idipus is our friend or our foe. But before we found out, we can't let him die! What if he's our friend? What if he's one of the good ones after all? We would've let an innocent life die!"  
  
"Calm down!" He pulled her into his arms. "It's okay...we'll do it. We'll purify this place." Sakura looked up. "Syaoran..." She held back tightly. Then they let go, knowing there was business to take care of. "But what's the spirit of fire and stuffs?" Sakura said, walking towards the altar. Syaoran put his hand to his mouth, and thought deeply. "Fire...spirit..." He held his head; it was hurting. Then he opened his eyes and looked up. "Shi Shi! What're the three spirits?"  
  
"Fire, water, and wind." Shi Shi replied through egg.  
  
"Sakura, isn't that the symbol of the stones our friends gave us? Princess Zeldia gave us an aqua stone, the phoenix from Gauliodo gave us, and the fire stone the birds gave us." Sakura's face lid up and nodded, agreed one hundred percent. "Yes! Come to think of it, you're right!"  
  
"If we put all the spirits in the right slot, maybe something will happen!" Syaoran said excitingly. Sakura looked worried. "You think it'd work?" Syaoran shook his head, he replied. "I don't know, but it's worth a try."  
  
They looked at each other, and their eyes locked together. Then Sakura looked at him with determination and nodded stably. "Okay, we'll do it."  
  
Together, they took out their stones and placed it in the right slots. Syaoran was right, it seemed that the stones were supposed to fit there since all the slots match the stones' shapes perfectly. But they had a problem once they got to the centre.  
  
According to Shi Shi, the "Angel Wing" crystal was supposed to go in the centre; but no matter how hard they tried, they could never get it to fit. If they just place it in the slot loosely, nothing would happen. "Shi Shi, are you sure the crystal goes in the centre? It doesn't fit like the others." Shi Shi's voice echoed back. "I'm sorry, but that's all I know. Try it a few more times." Sakura sighed, and she tried again. But no matter how they place it, the damn thing just wouldn't fit.  
  
"I don't understand..." Sakura sat down, giving up. "It's supposed to be there, yet it doesn't fit."  
  
Syaoran use his finger to trace the outline of the slot. He thought the slot's shape seemed familiar, but he couldn't recall when had he seen it before. Then it hit him. Turning around, he yelled. "Sakura, release your staff!"  
  
Sakura looked at him uneasily. "Why?" She asked, he waved and shouted again. "Just do it!" She clumsily reached in and took it out. "Alright, alright!" She commanded. "Release!" And the tiny key turned into a staff. She took it in her hands and looked back at Syaoran. "Now what?"  
  
"Try to insert it here." Syaoran said as he pointed towards the centre slot. Sakura didn't understand at first, but as she placed it there, it fit perfectly. What was even weirder was all the other stones were glowing dimly, as if they were reacting.  
  
"Hoe?" Sakura said. "I thought the 'Angel Wing' goes there."  
  
Syaoran stared at the staff, now the star was starting to glow, too. "I don't know either, but it seemed that we have to do the purification through your staff." He looked around and said. "We'll never know what would happen. Are you up to the challenge?" Sakura smiled, and nodded. "Ready when you are."  
  
Syaoran smiled back, he held her hand. Whatever they were facing, they would face it together.  
  
Sakura started for the altar. When she got close enough, the "Angel Wing" in the bell floated in the air, and was attractive to the staff. It floated in the air like a bird with a leash. Sakura took off her necklace, and brought it even closer to the staff. The crystal seemed to be attracting to the ruby underneath the star on the staff. When the two almost touched, the ruby shattered. That scared Sakura, for a moment, she thought the power of the "Angel Wing" would be so strong that it'd shatter her staff. Instead, her necklace flew out of her hand, and with a bright light, merged with the staff. All the other stones glowed with great big light. Sakura backed up, and almost lost her balance when she stepped off the altar. Syaoran ran up and caught her. They shut their eyes, for the light were so bright, that it blinded them for a second.  
  
All three stones circled around the staff. The "Angel Wing" now held the position the red ruby once had been. The stones accelerated, and merged with the "Angel Wing". Then the crystal grew even brighter; it stretched its ways to both side, long and sharp, making the whole staff look like a cross.  
  
The staff was now floating in the air. Sakura stepped up again, this time she knew what to do. She cupped her hands around the star on the staff, and closed her eyes. She began to concentrate. Then with a swift motion, she stretched her hands as far as they could go. "Purify!"  
  
The star turned furiously, and the little wings on the side spread, like they were when Sakura was using the cards. Syaoran used his hand to cover his eyes, through the gap, he could see Sakura and the staff.  
  
Cross...  
  
A cross with wings...!  
  
Then the light grew even brighter, and purification began. The light shot a beam, all the way from the fortress to the sky miles above. It broke the fortress's shelter. The creature, now awakening, reacted to the pain, and emerged from the sandy surface.  
  
People gasped, and they all stared at the beam that was coming out of the fortress, now a giant beast. It roared in pain, twisting and fighting. Its scream was eardrum breaking; it almost terrified the souls out of the livings.  
  
Inside the fortress, the missionaries disappeared into thin air with a blinding light. Idipus, now with scars and wound all over him, collapsed on the floor and watched as the missionaries vanished. Their bodies were dissociating and their souls were all rushing to the same place: 'Angel Wing'.  
  
~~~~~  
  
All over Ometin, the light beam could be seen. Missionaries from all over dissolved and their souls flew towards the beam, making a meteor-shower- like phenomenon in the clear sky. Citizens all over watched with amazement.  
  
Outside the church, Father Ribian watched the magnificent sight, and did a prayer. Chocy and Miranda came out of the stable. Immediately, Chocy knew it was Sakura and Syaoran. They finally made it to the final part of their journey. Remembering them brought back a lot of warm memories for Chocy; yet he felt a great deal of sorrow for he missed them so. Miranda came over and snuggled in his neck. He blushed and smiled. This was his life now.  
  
The three birds came out, too, alone with their penguin bird friends. They stared childishly at the bright light beam. Then all of a sudden, the tattoos on the birds' tummies glowed. The three looked down curiously and almost tripped when the tattoos detached from them, and flew into the air alone with the other missionaries' souls. Chocy and Father Ribian rushed over to see if they were okay. Thankfully, they got up and seemed unharmed. Father Ribian was surprised to see their tattoos on their tummies were gone. "You...have been purified." The birds looked curiously at Father Ribian; he smiled brightly and nodded. "You three have been granted a new life, may god be with you." He lifted them up, and turned around. "Now...let's all pray for your owners." He closed his eyes, and began to pray again.  
  
~~~~~  
  
Syaoran watched as Sakura began the purification. All of the sudden, his heart trembled, and it beat hard. He placed his hand over it, as if trying to calm it. Then when the purification began, and the souls started to rush towards Sakura's staff, Syaoran felt a great deal of pain stinging his heart. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaggggggggghhhhhhhhhh!" He crouched over and screamed.  
  
"Syaoran!!" Sakura lost her concentration and turned to see him. Her hand was still holding in position, making it hard to turn all the way around. "What's wrong? Are you okay?" Syaoran took deep breaths, trying to calm down, but the pain never went away. [What's wrong with me...] His hand now clung to his heart tightly; so tight that he almost ripped his shirt. His other hand supported him on the floor, fingers digging into the sand. The pain was unimaginable.  
  
"Agh..." He groaned. Sakura was getting worrier. "Syaoran? Syaoran, answer me! Syaoran!" He managed to shake his head, and replied painfully. "Just...continue with the purification...I'll...be fine..." Sakura wasn't convinced. "But...!" Syaoran interrupted her. "If you stop now, all our work would be ruined! Everyone in Ometin believes in us!" He looked up, and said softly. "Be strong."  
  
Sakura felt his determination. "Okay!" She nodded and went back to the purification.  
  
The large creature struggled, but finally, when all souls had been purified, he stopped, and his body began to dissolve. One by one, it leaked into the sky.  
  
Sakura's staff dropped, and the whole place was rocking back and forth. After all, they were in the fortress, body of the creature. "Are you okay, Syaoran?" She crawled towards him. His breathed slowly, and replied. "I'm...fine. The pain seemed to be gone." It was unbelievable. Once moment he thought he was going to die then the next moment, he was fine. The pain was gone like a gust of wind.  
  
The shrine rocked more wildly now. Then the whole place was tilted to one side and they slid to a corner. "We're going to fall hard if we don't do something before this whole fortress crash!" Syaoran yelled. Sakura agreed. "Right! We have to get out of here! But how?"  
  
Just then, something hit Sakura's hand. She turned to see it was her staff that slid to their side. An idea hit, and she held the staff tight. "Syaoran! We can go back!" Syaoran looked at her, confused. "What?"  
  
Sakura held up her staff, now with the "Angel Wing" crystal installed, the bell hung, and the necklace attached. The crystal, the necklace and the staff had merge into one. Further more, now the "Angel Wing" was glowing softly with a white light. They both know what it meant.  
  
"Let's go back!" Syaoran said with a grin.  
  
"To Japan!" Sakura continued.  
  
Sakura took the staff, and smiled to herself. This was truly and unforgettable adventure. She met friends, and had tons of experiences. Most important of all, she was able to discover her true love. It was so wonderful that she was kind of sad that it had to end this way. "Sakura?" Syaoran called, waking her up. She looked up, smiled again, and through her arms around him. He blushed, not knowing what to do. She closed her eyes and said softly. "Let's go home."  
  
With in seconds, they were surrounded by great bright light.  
  
~~~~~  
  
"Sakura! Syaoran!" Shi Shi and Jon were still trying to get the walky-talky to work when Cordo shouted. "You guys! Look!"  
  
They all went out to watch. Shi Shi gasped, amazed by what she saw.  
  
The fortress was almost completely dissolved now. A shinning star was born out of it, and it was heading slowly towards the sky. They knew right away, Sakura and Syaoran were inside the star; no, they were the star.  
  
All of a sudden, they knew what they mean. It was time to say good-bye. Tears rushed to Shi Shi's eyes, and Jon came over to pat her on the shoulder. Elsie was crying, too. The long legend was finally over. Cordo used his cape to cover her, and they hugged softly.  
  
Then Shi Shi let go of Jon's grip, and ran ahead. She went a few steps, and began to wave her hand. "Good-bye! I'll miss you! Come back and visit sometime, okay?" Jon came to her side, and cupped his mouth. "So long, Syaoran, Sakura! Good luck in the future!" He took a deep breath, and shouted on top of his lung. "And thank you~!! For everything!"  
  
His voice echoed in the air. Now everyone was waving and shouting "good- bye" and "thank you". Jon and Shi Shi watched calmly at the star. They were thinking of the same thing.  
  
We'll never forget you...  
  
~~~~~  
  
It was eight in the night in central park, Tokyo. The place was deserted, except for a couple, sleeping soundly on a bench under the soft streetlight. Their eyes flickered; then slowly, they woke up. They looked at each other, and blinked softly.  
  
"Sakura...?" Syaoran said.  
  
"Syaoran..." Sakura replied.  
  
They were thinking of the same thing: was that just a dream?  
  
Instinctively, Sakura reached in, and looked for her necklace.  
  
It was no longer her star key. It now has a crystal in the centre and a bell in the end.  
  
It wasn't a dream...  
  
They looked at each other again, and smiled. Then softly, they embraced.  
  
~ End ~ 


End file.
